January 5, 2024

More than 50 people have been reported missing, as Japanese rescuers battle the cold to reach communities that remain cut off three days after a devastating earthquake struck the country’s western coast. At least 78 people have been confirmed dead and 330 injured since the magnitude 7.6 earthquake off the Noto Peninsula on January 1, according to local authorities. end of list On Thursday, officials published a list of 51 people from three cities whose whereabouts could not be confirmed. More than a dozen communities have been cut off. Soldiers, firefighters and police officers from across Japan are searching through collapsed wooden houses and toppled commercial buildings for signs of life. Experts say the first three days are especially critical because the prospects for survival drop sharply after that. “This is a very difficult situation. But from the viewpoint of protecting lives, I ask that you make every effort to save and rescue as many lives as possible by this evening, when the critical 72 hours of the disaster will have passed,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at a government meeting on Thursday. He announced that the number of troops dispatched to the area for rescue operations was being increased from about 1,000 to 4,600. The narrowness of the hard-hit Noto Peninsula has added to the challenges in reaching some communities. Water, power and mobile phone services were still down in some areas. Evacuees in Wajima queue for water [Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters] There have been nearly 600 aftershocks since the main quake, raising fears of landslides with forecasts of rain adding to the risk. Naomi Gonno said she and her children got out of their house just as it came crashing down. Advertisement AD Her children were screaming for their grandmother, and Gonno saw that her mother was trapped under the smashed house, with only her hand visible. She was able to squeeze her way out through a tiny space, Gonno said. “I can’t believe we’re still alive,” she said. “We are living in fear.” No water, power In Wajima, where a massive fire ripped through parts of the port and the district surrounding it, people queued for water and food. The quake buckled and tore apart roads, making it even more difficult to access the hardest-hit areas. “Compared to other disasters, the road situation into Wajima is very bad. I feel it’s taking longer than usual for assistance to arrive,” Shunsaku Kohriki, a medical worker, told the Reuters news agency. “I think, realistically speaking, the evacuees will have to live in really tough conditions for a while yet.” The full extent of the damage and casualties remains unclear four days after the deadliest quake in Japan since at least 2016. The government said it would increase the number of soldiers helping in rescue efforts [Jiji Press via EPA] All the deaths have been reported near the epicentre of the quake in Ishikawa prefecture. More than 33,000 people have evacuated from their homes and about 100,000 houses have no water supply, according to officials in the area. Four of the world’s tectonic plates meet in Japan making the country particularly prone to earthquakes. It experiences hundreds of tremors every year, but most cause little to no damage. Earthquakes have hit the Noto region with intensifying strength and frequency over the past five years. In 2011, Japan’s northeast was hit by one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded. The magnitude 9.0 undersea earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that wiped out entire communities and triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant. At least 18,500 people were killed. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/1/4/japanese-rescuers-race-to-find-survivors-as-quake-death-toll-rises-to-78

Security forces killed two terrorists including a commander during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday. According to the military’s media wing, the forces conducted the operation on the night of January 4-5 on the reported presence of terrorists in the area. “During the conduct of the operation, after an intense fire exchange, two terrorists, including HVT (high-value target) Gul Yousaf also known as Toor, were sent to hell,” said the ISPR. The statement added that terrorist Yousaf remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces including high-profile terrorist attacks in Tank and DI Khan districts as well as extortion and target killing of innocent civilians. “He was highly wanted by the law enforcement agencies and the government had fixed head money of Rs2.5 million on him,” said the ISPR. The statement said that the local populace appreciated the efforts of the security forces in maintaining peace and stability in the area, adding that the security forces of Pakistan, in step with the nation, remain determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism from the country. ‘2023 saw disturbing surge in suicide attacks’ Pakistan, in 2023, saw a disturbing surge in suicide attacks by terrorists, reaching the highest level since 2014. The data gathered by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) stated that security forces remained the primary targets of these terrorist attacks, with civilians constituting the second-largest victim category. At least 48% of deaths (157) and 58% of injuries (340) were inflicted upon security personnel, the data stated. The number of civilian casualties was closer to these statistics with 130 deaths and 242 injured. As per regional comparisons, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bore the brunt of these attacks, reporting 23 instances that resulted in 254 fatalities and 512 injuries. Within KP, newly merged districts (NMD) experienced 13 suicide attacks, leading to 85 deaths and 206 injuries. Balochistan faced five attacks, causing 67 deaths and 52 injuries, while Sindh witnessed one suicide attack resulting in eight deaths and 18 injuries. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1144957-terrorist-commander-among-two-killed-in-kps-tank-ispr

Heavy bombardments are reported near Deir el-Balah, including at the Nuseirat, al-Maghazi and Bureij refugee camps as Israeli forces residents to evacuate south. At least 32 people killed in Khan Younis and five in Rafah as Israeli attacks continue across Gaza. Israeli Defence Minister says operations in southern Gaza, which have included the bombing of refugee camps and previously declared civilian ‘safe zones’, will continue. At least 22,600 people killed and 57,910 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll from the October 7 attack on Israel stands at 1,139. Israeli forces withdraw from two neighbourhoods in Gaza City Al Jazeera’s Ismail al-Ghoul says that after more than 10 days, Israeli forces have withdrawn from the neighbourhoods of Daraj and al-Tuffah in Gaza City. “The Israeli army left behind them a trail of destruction,” al-Ghoul said, speaking in front of al-Shifa Hospital. “They bulldozed cemeteries and uprooted recently the buried bodies.” People tried to use the so-called humanitarian corridor on al-Rashid Road to go south, but were shot at directly by Israeli soldiers, he added. Click Palestinian government spurns Israel’s post-war Gaza vision The Palestinian government has indicated it is not open to a post-war plan for Gaza outlined by Israel’s defence minister that would turn governance of Gaza over to unnamed “Palestinian bodies” while granting Israel security control. In a statement cited by the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the presidency said it is committed to seeing an end to Israel’s occupation and to a future Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital, under the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative. It “unequivocally [rejects] any plans that go beyond these parameters”, it said, according to the Wafa report. ‘Millions’ demonstrate in Yemen to support Palestinians Massive crowds are gathered right now in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and other cities in a demonstration of solidarity with Palestinians. Al Masirah TV, the state television channel run by the Houthis, claimed that two million Yemenis participated in the “Blood of the Free People…on the Road to Victory” march. Live footage from the Al-Sabeen Square in Sanaa showed an endless sea of demonstrators, many carrying Palestinian flags. Houthi officials addressed the crowds. A rally statement said the Yemenis are ready to fight the US and commemorated their 10 fighters killed by the US last week, condemned al-Arouri’s assassination in Lebanon, and urged an Arab boycott of Israeli and US goods and products. The Yemenis participating in the rallies chanted for Palestinians and against the US and Israel [Khaled Abdullah/Reuters] Click Qassam Brigades target Israeli soldiers east of Khan Younis The Qassam Brigades said its fighters detonated a minefield targeting Israeli soldiers in Khuza’a, east of Khan Younis, that resulted in a number of casualties. Hamas’s armed wing also said it attacked an Israeli bulldozer in the same area. Earlier, a joint operation by the Qassam Brigades and al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement, attacked three Israeli Merkava tanks in the Ma’an area in Khan Younis. Click ‘Humanitarian corridor’ attacked Hani Mahmoud Reporting from Rafah, Gaza In the past hour or so, a bridge that connects Gaza City with central Gaza has been bombed and destroyed. This is on the coastal road Israel ordered people to take to evacuate to southern Gaza. On the one hand, people are told to evacuate from areas under attack, but then the roads – the ‘humanitarian corridors’ – they are told to take are being attacked. Click here to share on social media Maersk says to avoid Red Sea for foreseeable future Shipping giant Maersk has said that it would divert all vessels around Africa instead of using the Red Sea and Suez Canal for the “foreseeable future” after Yemeni rebels attacked its merchant ships. The Danish company cited the highly volatile situation and noted that the security risk remains high. “We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future,” it said in a statement. Containers of Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk are seen in Copenhagen, Denmark. [File: Sergei Gapon/AFP]  Click Photos: Pro-Palestinian demonstrations take place in Jordan’s capital People pray during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza, in Amman [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] A Palestinian boy holds a placard during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza in Amman, Jordan [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] [Alaa Al-Sukhni/Reuters] Click Gradual escalation on Israel-Lebanon border Zeina Khodr The cycle of violence continues along the Lebanon-Israel border. Israel is carrying out a series of air strikes, targeting what it says are Hezbollah military infrastructure, fighters and launch sites. Lately, it has been stepping up its attacks. It’s still confined largely along the 120km (75 miles) border, but Israel is trying to pressure Hezbollah to pull back because it believes it is the only way that the tens of thousands of Israelis can return to their homes in northern Israel. Hezbollah, however, is refusing to do that, and says it will not discuss anything along the border until Israel’s attacks on Gaza stop. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/1/5/israel-war-on-gaza-live-israel-attacks-bombard-khan-younis-rafah