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Biden Vows Arms Suspension as Israel Shells Rafah
Israel shelled Rafah on Thursday as US President Joe Biden offered his starkest warning yet over the conduct of its war against Hamas, vowing to cut off arms transfers if an offensive into the southern Gaza city goes ahead.
Israel has defied international objections by sending in tanks and conducting “targeted raids” in the border city, which it says is home to Hamas’s last remaining battalions — but is also crowded with displaced Palestinian civilians.
AFP journalists reported heavy shelling in Rafah early Thursday, and the Israeli military later said it was also striking “Hamas positions” further north in the centre of the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden warned he would stop US weapons supplies to Israel if it pushed ahead with its long-threatened Rafah ground offensive.
“If they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used… to deal with the cities,” Biden said. “We’re not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used.”
On Tuesday, Israel forces seized Rafah’s border crossing into Egypt, which has served the main entry point for aid into besieged Gaza.
The White House condemned the interruption to humanitarian deliveries at the time, and the secretary of defence later confirmed Washington had paused, for the time being, a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel after it failed to address concerns over its Rafah ground incursion.
“Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs,” Biden said in his interview. “It’s just wrong.”
He insisted, however, that the United States was “not walking away from Israel’s security”.
The United States, along with Egypt and Cairo, has been heavily involved in talks currently under way in Cairo aimed at brokering a ceasefire in the seven-month war.
– ‘Extreme fear’ –
The Israeli military said Wednesday it was reopening another major aid crossing into Gaza, Kerem Shalom, as well as the Erez crossing.
But the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said the Kerem Shalom crossing — which Israel shut after a rocket attack killed four soldiers on Sunday — remained closed.
Late Wednesday, the army said a soldier was lightly wounded when Kerem Shalom was again targeted by rockets.
The heavy shelling in Rafah overnight into Thursday followed a day of what the Israeli military said were “targeted raids on the Gazan side of Rafah crossing”, in the city’s east.
An army statement later on Wednesday said that Hamas naval commander Mohammed Ahmed Ali was killed in an air strike “in the past day”. Hamas did not immediately comment.
Civilian life in Rafah, meanwhile, “has completely ceased”, said displaced Gazan Marwan al-Masri, 35, noting “the streets are empty” in the western part of the city.
“We are living in Rafah in extreme fear and endless anxiety,” said Muhanad Ahmad Qishta, 29.
“Places the Israeli army claims to be safe are also being bombed,” he told AFP.
– ‘Catastrophic’ health situation –
An emergency doctor working in Rafah and nearby Khan Yunis said that with humanitarian access compromised, the health situation was “catastrophic”.
“The smell of sewage is rife everywhere,” said the doctor, James Smith. “It’s been getting worse over the course of the last couple of days.”
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday that hospitals in southern Gaza had only “three days of fuel left” because of the border closures.
“Without fuel all humanitarian operations will stop.”
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Israel in response vowed to crush Hamas and launched a military offensive that has killed at least 34,844 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
Militants also took about 250 hostages. Israel estimates 128 of them remain in Gaza, including 36 who officials say are dead.
– Truce talks –
Talks involving Qatari, US and Hamas delegations aimed at cementing a long-stalled ceasefire deal were ongoing Wednesday in Cairo, said Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence.
It noted that there were “points of contention” during the discussions, but also reported some “convergence” without elaborating.
A senior Hamas official said the latest round of negotiations would be “decisive”.
Hamas “insists on the rightful demands of its people”, the official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly about the negotiations.
In Jerusalem, CIA director Bill Burns met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the “possibility of Israel pausing the operation in Rafah in exchange for hostage releases”, an Israeli official said, also on condition of anonymity.
The Hamas official had previously warned the Cairo talks would be Israel’s “last chance” to free the hostages still in militants’ hands.
Mediator Qatar also appealed “for urgent international action to prevent Rafah from being invaded and a crime of genocide being committed”.
Palestinian analyst Mkhaimar Abusada said Israel’s seizure of the Rafah crossing could be an attempt to create new facts on the ground, or a bid to “sabotage the truce talks”.
Israel’s seizure of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing came after Hamas said it had accepted a truce proposal — one Israel said was “far” from what its own negotiators had previously agreed to.
Netanyahu has described the Rafah operation as “a very important step” in denying Hamas “a passage that was essential for establishing its reign of terror”.
A recent survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has highlighted the severe economic challenges faced by Nigerian households, revealing that two-thirds of the population struggle to afford healthy and nutritious meals. The survey, titled Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024), underscores the worsening multidimensional poverty and the erosion of purchasing power due to the persistent rise in the cost of goods and services.
The report shows that approximately 63.8% of households have been forced to eat only a few kinds of food due to financial constraints. About 62.4% of respondents admitted worrying about food insufficiency, while 60.5% ate less than they thought they should. The situation has deteriorated significantly since the last survey, as the proportion of households expressing food insecurity concerns rose from 36.9% in the previous wave to 62.4% in the current one.
Power Outages and Access to Energy
The survey also sheds light on the nation’s energy crisis, revealing that Nigerian households experience an average of 6.7 power blackouts per week. While 82.2% of urban households have access to electricity, the figure drops to 40.4% in rural areas.
Cooking remains predominantly dependent on traditional methods, with 65% of households using three-stone stoves and 70.2% relying on firewood. However, the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is reportedly increasing.
Sanitation and Asset Ownership
In terms of sanitation, the report highlights that many households still lack basic toilet facilities, relying on bushes or streets for waste disposal. Access to clean drinking water is often through tube wells or boreholes, reflecting a lack of formal infrastructure in many areas.
On asset ownership, the survey indicates a decline since 2018/19. While two-thirds of households own mobile phones, only 21.3% have internet access. Housing ownership remains significant, with 70.4% of households owning their homes—80.1% in rural areas compared to 49.1% in urban centers.
The NBS report provides a stark reminder of the challenges many Nigerians face daily, from food insecurity and power outages to inadequate sanitation and declining asset ownership. It calls for urgent policy interventions to address these critical issues and improve the living standards of the population.
US car giant Ford on Wednesday announced 4,000 more job cuts in Europe, mostly in Germany and Britain, in the latest blow to the continent’s beleaguered car industry.
“The company has incurred significant losses in recent years,” Ford said in a statement, blaming “the industry shift to electrified vehicles and new competition”.
The move will affect 2,900 jobs in Germany, 800 in the UK and 300 in western Europe by the end of 2027, a Ford spokesman told AFP.
“It is critical to take difficult but decisive action to ensure Ford’s future competitiveness in Europe,” said Dave Johnston, Ford’s European vice-president in the statement.
The company also said it was adjusting the production of its Explorer and Capri models, resulting in reduced hours at its Cologne plant in the first quarter of 2025.
Europe’s car industry has been plunged into crisis by high manufacturing costs, a stuttering switch to electric vehicles and increased competition in key market China.
Germany’s Volkswagen has been among those hardest hit, announcing in September that it was considering the unprecedented move of closing some factories in Germany.
“The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,” Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said at the time.
Ford had already announced in February 2023 that it was planning to cut 3,800 jobs in Europe, including 2,300 in Germany and 1,300 in Britain.
The company said then it was planning to reduce the number of models developed for Europe, concentrate on the profitable van segment and speed up the transition to electric vehicles.
Ford currently has around 28,000 employees in Europe with 15,000 in Germany, according to the company’s works council.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the dissolution of the Governing Council of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, Anambra State, and the removal of the institution’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Bernard Ifeanyi Odoh, and Registrar, Mrs. Rosemary Ifoema Nwokike.
The council, chaired by Ambassador Greg Ozumba Mbadiwe, comprised five other members: Hafiz Oladejo, Augustine Onyedebelu, Engr. Amioleran Osahon, and Rtd. Gen. Funsho Oyeneyin.
A statement released on Wednesday by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, revealed that the council was dissolved following reports of procedural violations in appointing the vice-chancellor.
According to the statement, the council had allegedly appointed an unqualified candidate, disregarding due process, which triggered tensions between the university’s Senate and the council.
The Federal Government expressed dismay over the council’s actions, emphasizing the need for adherence to the university’s governing laws in decision-making.
“The council’s disregard for established rules necessitated the government’s intervention to restore order to the 33-year-old institution,” the statement noted.
In a related development, President Tinubu also approved the dismissal of Engr. Ohieku Muhammed Salami, the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Federal University of Health Sciences, Otukpo, Benue State.
Salami was accused of suspending the university’s Vice-Chancellor without following the prescribed procedures, a move the Federal Ministry of Education had previously directed him to reverse.
Despite the Ministry’s directives, Salami reportedly refused to comply and resorted to issuing threats and abusive remarks towards the Ministry’s officials, including the Permanent Secretary.
The Federal Government reiterated that the primary role of university councils is to ensure the smooth operation of academic activities, strictly adhering to the laws establishing each institution.
Tinubu warned university councils against engaging in actions that could destabilize their institutions, as his administration remains committed to enhancing the nation’s education system.
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