59 JOURNALISTS killed in Israel’s brutal war on Gaza: Advocacy group

The US military says Yemeni Armed Forces have fired two ballistic missiles in the direction of USS Mason, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, in the Gulf of Aden.

In a statement, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the destroyer was targeted early Monday morning local time after it aided the tanker ship Central Park that had been seized in the Gulf of Aden.

“The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships,” the statement added.

“There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident,” it claimed.

The Central Park was carrying phosphoric acid and had an international crew of 22, The Associated Press reported. It sent a distress signal prompting the US aircraft USS Mason to respond.

The tanker ship sails under the Liberian flag and is managed by London-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group. 

Earlier this month, the Yemeni Armed Forces seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen.

They have threatened to attack Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen and launched drone and missile strikes targeting the occupied territories in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Israel waged a war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group conducted Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.

Since the start of the aggression, the Tel Aviv regime has killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and left vast swathes of the coastal enclave in ruins.

It has also imposed a “complete siege” on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

At least 15 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli forces' direct strikes on Indonesian Hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the northern part of Gaza as the brutal aggression on the besieged strip enters its 45th day.

Israeli forces opened fire and launched artillery strikes on the Indonesian Hospital and the surrounding areas in the early hours of Monday.

Reports said Israeli forces are going to repeat what happened at al-Shifa Hospital and will also occupy the Indonesian Hospital as tanks surrounded the place.

Last week, Israel raided Al Shifa, Gaza’s main hospital claiming that it was a Hamas “operational center,” sharing unverified images and videos of what it said were Hamas weapons and equipment.

According to the medical team, the Indonesian Hospital was targeted without prior warning.

The strikes prompted staff at the hospital to appeal for urgent help from the United Nations and the Red Cross.

Following the strikes, the government media office in the Gaza Strip warned of another massacre that could be committed in the Indonesian Hospital.

Medical authorities in Gaza said the hospital has a capacity of 140 patients, but currently, there are more than 650 patients inside it.

The hospital is also sheltering thousands of displaced Palestinian people who sought refuge from the Israeli aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Multiple casualties were also reported in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the nearby Kuwait School where hundreds of families have been sheltering.

Also on Monday, the bodies of more than 30 Palestinians were transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza after Israeli strikes hit the refugee camps of Bureij and Nuseirat.

Israeli airstrikes on Gaza have repeatedly targeted hospitals, residential buildings, mosques, and churches. Under the Geneva Convention, attacks on hospitals are strictly prohibited.

Several hospitals in Gaza City have become refuges for Palestinians hoping to be spared Israeli bombardments, which began early in October.

On October 17, hundreds of civilians were killed and injured by Israeli airstrikes on al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City. The attack has been condemned as an act of genocide by many governments around the world.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has urged the United Nations secretary-general to form an international committee to visit hospitals in the besieged strip to counter Israel’s “false” claims that they are used as launch pad for anti-Israel operations. Hamas has noted that the claims are aimed to “justify” Israel’s attacks on hospitals in Gaza.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 30,000 others.

Bengaluru, Nov 23: The data of the ‘Socio-Economic and Education Survey’, popularly known as caste census, is “safe” and “intact”, according to K Jayaprakash Hegde, chairman of Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.

His clarification comes following the emergence of documents suggesting that the original report of the caste census is missing from the office of the Commission.

Kicking up a storm, the BJP questioned the credibility of the caste census that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wants to take forward. 

In October 2021, when the BJP was in power, Hegde had written to the government stating that neither the main report nor a photocopy was available in sealed boxes that were opened.

He also brought to the notice of the government that the signature of the member-secretary was missing from the available documents. 

In August 2022, a letter was written to Transport Secretary Dr N V Prasad who was the member-secretary of the Commission when the caste census report was finalised. The letter sought Prasad’s response to his missing signature. In this letter, too, the Commission states that the original report and its photocopy were not available in its office. 

“It is baffling to note that after spending crores of tax payers’ money to prepare this caste census report, we do not have the original copy,” BJP MLA Basanagouda Patil Yatnal said in a tweet and asked if the government had filed a police complaint or acted against officials responsible for this. 

Former BJP MLA V Sunil Kumar asked the Congress government to clarify before the start of the winter session of the legislature on December 4. “If a government document has gone missing, did someone steal it? Will the government get a fresh report done?” he said. 

But according to Hegde, the caste census data is not missing. “The data is 100% correct and intact. The data has the signature of the then chairperson, members and member-secretary. The data has been uploaded safely in our software developed by the BEL,” he said. 

Hegde explained that the caste census has two parts -- the data and a resultant report. “In the report comprising recommendations that had to be given to the government, some worksheets are missing,” he said. 

The BJP also taunted the Congress for being divided. “In this government, the CM and DyCM have different stands. Who should people believe?” Kumar said while Yatnal accused the Congress of “orchestrating this spectacle” for the Lok Sabha polls.