Cong leaders detained for trying to lay siege to Raj Bhavan

More decomposed bodies have been found inside al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, amid operations to recover bodies of the victims of one of the largest massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinians, Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says.

The founder and chairman of the group Ramy Abdu said in a series of social media posts that “operations to discover bodies executed by the Israeli army at al-Shifa Hospital continue.”

He published a “shocking” video that showed rescue teams, civil defense, and forensic evidence finding more decomposed bodies.

“It seems we are witnessing one of the largest massacres committed by Israel against the Palestinian people in history.”

Abdu said the video confirmed the Geneva-based rights group’s report on field execution operations carried out by the Israeli forces during their recent attack on al-Shifa.

“Horror: Doctors, nurses, displaced persons, administrators at the hospital, children, women. This is what is revealed after the Israeli army's withdrawal from al-Shifa Hospital. Dozens of people were executed in the field,” he said.

According to his remarks, the Israeli army placed the bodies inside pits it had dug.

On March 18, Israeli forces started a new wave of attacks on Gaza’s main hospital, al-Shifa, and imposed a two-week siege on it. 

On April 1, the Gaza Health Ministry said Israeli forces withdrew tanks and vehicles from al-Shifa, adding that dozens of bodies, some of them decomposed, had been found at the complex after the Israeli pullout, which also left behind a vast swath of destruction.

Israel first raided the hospital in Gaza City last November.

Al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, has sheltered thousands of Palestinians who fled Israel’s invasion in the northern parts of the territory.

The Israeli military claimed that the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas is using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” Hamas has repeatedly denied operating from Shifa and other health facilities.

The chief of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said al-Shifa is no longer functional because of months of Israeli siege and attacks on the facility.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s intensified violence against Palestinians.

Since the start of the offensive, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 33,207 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,933 others.

Hubballi, Apr 23: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday spoke to father of slain student Neha Hiremath over phone and said "sorry" over his daughter's killing, and assured that "we will be on your side".

The Chief Minister also informed Niranjan Hiremath, who is also a Congress councillor of Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, about the government's decision to hand over the murder case to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and setting up a special court to fast-track trial.

"Niranjan... very sorry. We will be on your side," Siddaramaiah told Hiremath over the phone call during state's Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil's visit to Hiremath's house here.

In the conversation on Patil's phone with speakers on, Siddaramaiah can be heard informing Hiremath about the CID probe and setting up a special court.

"It is a serious offence... setting up a special court will ensure punishment for the accused person."

Hiremath thanked Siddaramaiah on behalf of his family well-wishers and the community for handing over the case to CID and setting up a special court "...ensure there is an order at the earliest and provide us justice," he said, as he also thanked Patil, Home Minister G Parameshwara, local Congress MLA Prasad Abbayya and others for their support.

Replying to this, Siddaramaiah said, "We will ensure it, at the earliest."

In a shocking incident, Neha Hiremath (23), was stabbed to death on the campus of BVB College last Thursday. The accused Fayaz Khondunaik, who fled from the scene, was arrested by the police subsequently.

Neha was a first year Master of Computer Application (MCA) student and Fayaz was earlier her classmate.

Siddaramaih on Monday had announced his government has decided to hand over the investigation into the incident to the Crime Investigation Department, and to set up a special court for speedy disposal of the case.

The case of brutal murder, which sparked widespread outrage, has snowballed into a political slugfest between ruling Congress and opposition BJP.

While the ruling party has tried to project it as an incident with personal angle, the saffron party has called it a "love jihad" case and has said it's a testimony of deterioration of law and order in the state.

Earlier, Siddarmaiah's statement that the murder was due to "personal reasons" and Home Minister G Parameshwara's comments that the duo was in love, has elicited sharp reactions from Hiremath and family members and opposition parties.

Udupi, Apr 12: A family’s visit to a resort to enjoy Eid-ul-Fitr holidays turned tragic as a 10-year-old boy drowned in the swimming pool at Hengavalli in Kundapur taluk of Udupi district on Thursday. 

The deceased has been identified as Mohammed Azeez, a Class 4 student at Darussalam English Medium School in Hoode.

Azeez was, who had gone to the resort along with his parents, was playing in the pool when he lost balance and drowned. Even though he was rescued, he was in a critical condition and later breathed his last. 

The family members have accused the negligence of the resort management as the reason for Azeez's death. They said that the incident occurred due to the absence of safety equipment like life jackets and the lack of lifeguards near the swimming pool.

A case has been registered at Shankaranarayana police station and investigations are underway.