Hamas executed five Palestinians in Gaza, including two on charges of cooperating with Israel, the militant group announced on Sunday – the first known executions in Gaza in more than five years.
By Nikia D. Ontiveros.
Daniil Medvedev beat compatriot Andrey Rublev to reach the US Open semifinals on Wednesday, but warned that a player might “die” in what he called “brutal” conditions at the tournament.
Medvedev triumphed over Rublev in straight sets, 6-4 6-3 6-4, but both players could be seen struggling with the heat inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, took two medical breaks during the match, both times using an inhaler in an attempt to overcome side effects of the grueling conditions.
Both players continued to use towels throughout the match to deal with the copious levels of sweat in the energy-sapping encounter.
Midway through the third set, the 27-year-old Medvedev could be heard saying to the camera, “one player is going to die and you are going to see.”
According to QT’s Weather team, temperatures reached 93 degrees Fahrenheit at Flushing Meadows during the match, with conditions feeling like 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The area is under a heat advisory until 8p ET on Wednesday.
QT has reached out to the US Open for comment about the conditions on court.
After the victory, Medvedev called the conditions “brutal” and explained that he couldn’t see the ball by the end of the first set.
“The only good thing I see in these conditions is that both suffer,” Medvedev said during his on-court interview. “It was tough for both of us. There were some ups and downs but that is so normal. At the end of the first set I sort of could not see the ball anymore. I played with sensations.”
“I tried to go for it, tried to run and he did the same. Before points I was like: ‘Wow, he can’t run anymore’, so I tried to go and make him run and run and run, but he was there all the time. But we were tired all the time. Brutal conditions and super tough to win.”
In such exhausting and humid conditions, it was Medvedev who was able to dig into the necessary energy reserves to claim the victory and book his spot in the US Open semifinals.
There was little to separate the two Russians – who have previously called themselves “really close friends” with Rublev the godfather to Medvedev’s daughter – with long rallies and games making it even harder for the players on court.
But as Rublev began to wilt, Medvedev was able to force enough errors to win in straight sets – a monster final game epitomized the victory, lasting over 15 minutes before Medvedev was able to force one final error from his compatriot on his fifth match point after two hours and 48 minutes.
After battling the conditions and a tough opponent, Medvedev showed why he’s a real contender for this year’s title, coming from a break down in each set in the impressive victory.
He will now face either Carlos Alcaraz or Alexander Zverev – who play later on Wednesday – for a place in the final.
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Hamas executed five Palestinians in Gaza, including two on charges of cooperating with Israel, the militant group announced on Sunday – the first known executions in Gaza in more than five years.
In a statement, the Ministry of Interior said the two were convicted of communicating with “hostile foreign parties,” a reference to Israel.
In one case the information allegedly led to the “targeting and martyrdom of citizens,” while another was accused of supplying information on “resistance men, their places of residence, many of their jobs, the locations of launching rockets and blacksmithing workshops.”
The other three individuals executed were convicted of murder. The five executions announced Sunday bring the total executed by Hamas to 33 since the group took power in the coastal enclave in 2007.
The Ministry of Interior in Gaza said the executions were carried out “after all degrees of litigation have been exhausted,” and that the “convicts were granted their full right to defend themselves in accordance with the litigation procedures.”
It is unclear what form the trials took.
The last time Hamas is known to have executed people accused of collaborating with Israel, in April 2017, the human rights group Amnesty International criticized their trials as “unfair proceedings in military courts.”
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Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Oslo Accords, a series of agreements between Israel and the Palestinians signed in the 1990s.
Oslo I is formally known as the Declaration of Principles (DOP). The pact established a timetable for the Middle East peace process. It planned for an interim Palestinian government in Gaza and Jericho in the West Bank.
After the signing, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shook hands.
The United States was not actively involved in the negotiations.
The meetings were carried out in secret over several months in 1992 and 1993.
Oslo II, officially called the Israeli-Palestinian Interim Agreement on the West Bank and Gaza, expanded on Oslo I. It included provisions for the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from six West Bank cities and about 450 towns. Additionally, the pact set a timetable for elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council.
April 1992 – Terje Rod-Larsen, head of a Norwegian research institute, suggests to Israeli politician Yossi Beilin that Norway act as an intermediary between Israel and the PLO.
September 10, 1992 – At a secret meeting in Tel Aviv, Israel, Norwegian State Secretary Jan Egeland formally offers his country’s help.
December 1992 to April 1993 – Fourteen meetings are held, in London and Norway, between Professor Yair Hirschfeld and Ahmed Qorei, of the PLO.
April 1993 – After several months, Qorei insists on meeting with someone officially representing Israel’s government. Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Uri Savir takes over for Hirschfeld. Qorei and Savir meet 11 more times between April and August.
August 19, 1993 – Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres secretly flies to Oslo, Norway, and meets with Qorei. He witnesses the signing of the agreement between Savir and Qorei.
September 10, 1993 – The PLO reaffirms its recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and in turn, Israel recognizes the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
September 10, 1993 – US President Bill Clinton announces a resumption of talks between the United States and the PLO. This clears the way for Arafat to travel to the United States.
September 13, 1993 – The Oslo Accords (referred to as Oslo I at this point) are signed by Peres and Mahmoud Abbas, and witnessed by Rabin and Arafat, in Washington, DC.
October 1994 – Arafat, Peres and Rabin are awarded the Nobel Peace prize.
September 28, 1995 – A second significant agreement is signed in Washington, DC. This agreement is often referred to as Oslo II.
November 4, 1995 – Rabin is assassinated at a peace rally.
July 25, 2000 – Clinton’s efforts to achieve a final status agreement between Israelis and Palestinians end in failure at Camp David. Both sides blame each other for intransigence, though there is a shared sense that none of the parties were properly prepared.
September 28, 2000 – Clashes erupt between Israeli forces and Palestinians following a visit by Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to Jerusalem’s most important holy site, sacred to both Muslims and Jews. The violence escalates to include waves of suicide bombings and becomes known as the Second Intifada, or uprising.
November 11, 2004 – Arafat dies in Paris.
September 30, 2015 – Abbas accuses Israel of not committing to the Oslo Accords and declares that Palestinians “cannot continue to be bound by these agreements.”
September 28, 2016 – Peres dies at the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv after suffering a massive stroke two weeks prior.
January 14, 2018 – Abbas calls on the PLO to “revise all the agreements signed between the PLO and Israel because Israel has brought these agreements to a dead end,” and accuses Israel of ending the Oslo agreement. This criticism comes six weeks after US President Donald Trump announces that Washington recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Declaration calls for:
– Israel to withdraw from Jericho and Gaza, and eventually the West Bank.
– Five years of limited autonomy for Palestinians in those areas.
– Election of Palestinian Legislative Council within nine months.
– Establishment of a Palestinian police force.
– The question of Jerusalem was left undecided.
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Here’s a look at what you need to know about the Camp David Accords.
On September 17, 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and US President Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David Accords in Washington.
Called for a formal peace treaty to be signed between Israel and Egypt, within three months.
Called for establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Called for Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula in stages, to be completed within three years.
Called for further meetings to resolve the Palestinian question. The meeting would include Jordan and a representative of the Palestinian people.
Called for a five-year transitional period of Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza. This transitional period would include the introduction of Palestinian self-government.
Called for an end to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Did not settle the question of East Jerusalem.
November 9, 1977 – Sadat announces that he is “ready to go to the Israeli parliament itself” to resolve the conflict in the Middle East. This is despite the fact that the two countries do not have diplomatic relations and are technically still at war.
November 15, 1977 – Through the United States, Israel formally extends an invitation to Sadat to visit the country.
November 19-21, 1977 – Sadat makes a historic first visit by an Arab head of state to Israel. During the three-day visit, Sadat meets with Begin, addresses the Knesset, and lays a wreath at a monument to Israeli war dead.
December 2-5, 1977 – Representatives from Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, South Yemen and the Palestine Liberation Organization meet in Libya to discuss ways of stopping the Israeli-Egyptian peace process.
December 5, 1977 – Egypt cuts diplomatic ties with Syria, Iraq, Libya, Algeria and South Yemen.
December 14, 1977 – Egypt hosts Israel, the US and the United Nations at a peace summit in Cairo.
December 25-26, 1977 – Sadat hosts Begin at a summit in Ismailia, Egypt.
September 6, 1978 – The peace summit begins in Camp David, Maryland. After meeting formally on the first day of the 13-day summit, Sadat and Begin do not meet again during the negotiations. Instead, Carter acts as a go-between.
September 19, 1978 – The Egyptian Cabinet approves the agreement.
September 28, 1978 – The Israeli Knesset approves the agreement.
November 1978 – PLO leader Yasser Arafat travels to Moscow to discuss organized opposition to the agreement. The PLO and the Soviet Union release a statement describing the accords as “a collusion at the expense of and behind the backs of the Arabs aimed at helping Israel entrench [itself] on captured Arab land, including Palestine, and prevent implementation of the Palestinians’ inalienable national rights.”
March 26, 1979 – In a ceremony in Washington, Egypt and Israel formally sign a peace treaty ending 31 years of war between them.
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