TEL AVIV, Israel: Israel on Monday denied entry to two European Union lawmakers, accusing one of promoting boycotts of the country. Lynn Boylan, who chairs the European Parliament EU-Palestine delegation, and Rima Hassan were refused entry at Ben-Gurion airport and ordered to return to Europe. Interior Minister Moshe Arbel said French politician Hassan has “consistently worked to promote boycotts against Israel in addition to numerous public statements both on social media and in media interviews.” No reasons were immediately given for Boylan being denied entry. Hassan was born in Aleppo, Syria, and, like Boylan, is a member of The Left group in the EU parliament. On Friday, The Left group called for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement – a pact that underpins their relations – given the International Court of Justice investigation into crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza. Boylan said she had planned to meet with Palestinian Authority officials, representatives of civil society organizations and people living under Israeli occupation. Boylan is a member of the Sinn Fein party in Ireland, which has been among the most vocal countries in criticizing the Israeli government over its treatment of Palestinians. “This utter contempt from Israel is the result of the international community failing to hold them to account,” Boylan said in a statement. “Israel is a rogue state, and this disgraceful move shows the level of utter disregard that they have for international law. Europe must now hold Israel to account.” Israeli legislators passed a law this month that prohibits entry to people who have denied Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack or expressed support for the international prosecution of Israeli soldiers. The law, which applies to non-citizens and non-residents of Israel, builds on previous legislation that denied entry to anyone calling for a boycott of Israel. The law also bans the entry of Holocaust deniers. The original law was seen by opponents as an attempt by Israel to silence critics. It was used on multiple occasions to bar entry to activists who support the Palestinian-led boycott, divestment and sanctions movement, known as BDS. Supporters portray BDS as nonviolent activism based on a similar campaign against apartheid South Africa. Israel views the movement as an attack on its very legitimacy and accuses some organizers of antisemitism, allegations they deny. Hassan, who hails from the French hard-left France Unbowed, called for a rally outside EU headquarters where the meeting took place on Monday, and where some protesters had gathered. Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar was on a diplomatic visit to Brussels for the EU-Israel Association Council. The council does not meet frequently, and Monday’s meeting was called amid pressure from Spain and Ireland to suspend the forum over Israel’s actions in Gaza. Saar met with several European leaders in Brussels. Earlier on Monday, Saar told reporters Israel was used to facing criticism and ready to approach all discussions with an open mind. “It’s OK as long as the criticism is not connected to the delegitimization, demonization or double standards, which from time to time are things we see in the attacks against Israel,” he said.  

JENIN: Palestinian militants said on Monday that an unusual deployment of Israeli tanks in the occupied West Bank, part of a major offensive that has displaced tens of thousands, may be a step toward annexation. The torn-up streets surrounding the Jenin refugee camp in the territory’s north were empty on Monday, an AFP journalist reported, as three Israeli Merkava tanks stationed at higher vantage points overlooked the area. Displaced camp residents occasionally entered through a back alley to retrieve belongings from their homes. “We go back in to get things, whatever we can. We take the risk because we have to,” said 52-year-old Ahmad Al-Qahrawi. “We had nothing when we left, no clothes, nothing. We go back to get clothes because it’s cold.” Israeli leaders have repeatedly pledged to annex at least parts of the West Bank, which has been occupied since 1967, but any such proposal has been met with strong opposition from Palestinians and much of the international community. In a weeks-long military operation in the north of the territory, launched around the time a truce took hold in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces looking for militants have cleared three refugee camps and deployed tanks in Jenin. Militant group Islamic Jihad said that the mass evacuations and first deployment of Israeli tanks in the territory since the early 2000s “confirms the occupation’s plans to annex the West Bank by force.” The group, which has fought alongside Hamas in Gaza and has a strong presence in the northern West Bank, denounced “a new act of aggression” which it said was “aimed at uprooting our people from their land.” The International Committee of the Red Cross said many residents who fled have taken shelter in “crowded mosques and schools.” The damage has hampered displaced residents’ “access to basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care and shelter,” and the winter cold “has made it more difficult to survive,” it added in a statement. "Lethal war-like tactics" The United Nations’ humanitarian agency OCHA said the military offensive “appears to exceed law enforcement standards” and has had severe consequences. “The continued use of lethal war-like tactics in residential areas is extremely concerning,” OCHA said. Throughout the Gaza war, violence in the West Bank — a separate Palestinian territory — has soared, as have calls to annex it, most notably by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli troops or settler attacks have killed at least 900 Palestinians, including many militants, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Palestinian attacks and clashes during military raids have killed at least 32 Israelis over the same period, according to official figures. UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday rejected “calls for annexation” and said he was “gravely concerned by the rising violence.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that “we are closely watching developments, and cannot hide our concern when it comes to the West Bank.” Israel said on Sunday that its troops would remain for many months in the evacuated refugee camps in the northern West Bank — Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams — aiming to “prevent the return of residents and the resurgence of terrorism,” according to Defense Minister Israel Katz. He put the number of displaced Palestinians at 40,000, the same figure provided by the United Nations which said the offensive has killed at least 51 Palestinians including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers. Islamic Jihad accused Israel of attempting to consolidate “military domination by creating settler corridors that reinforce the separation of West Bank cities and their camps.” The West Bank, excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, is home to around three million Palestinian as well as nearly half a million Israelis who live in settlements that are illegal under international law. Israeli tanks have not operated there since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or “uprising,” in 2005.

JUBA: South Sudan’s peacebuilding minister was arrested on Thursday, the latest in a series of detentions targeting leaders allied with First Vice President Riek Machar. “The National Security Service (NSS) has struck again, arresting Hon. Stephen Par Kuol, Minister of Peacebuilding and Secretary General of the National Transitional Committee (NTC), from his office a few minutes ago,” Machar’s press secretary Puok Both Baluang wrote on Facebook. Kuol’s arrest follows that of the oil minister and deputy head of the army, also allies of Machar and senior members of his Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Opposition (SPLM-IO) party, in the last two days. The arrests have raised concerns about destabilising the fragile peace agreement between President Salva Kiir and Machar. South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, ended a five-year civil war in 2018 with a power-sharing agreement between the two bitter rivals. Growing tensions have threatened to undo their unity government, particularly violent clashes in the northeastern Upper Nile State, where the government says there are ongoing clashes between the army and rebels backed by Machar’s forces. The United Nations has warned of increasing clashes in Upper Nile State involving the use of “heavy weaponry” and multiple deaths. Regional countries and Western embassies issued joint statements on Wednesday, calling for fighting to end. “Juba-based leaders must demonstrate their commitment to peaceful dialogue and should put the interest of the South Sudanese people first,” said the embassies, which included the United States, Britain and the European Union. There has also been criticism of political moves by Kiir, described by analysts as attempts to consolidate his position and sideline Machar. Last month, Kiir fired two of the five vice presidents in his unity government without consulting other stakeholders, and removed the governor of Western Equatoria State, a member of Machar’s movement.