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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Israel on a two-day visit from February 25 to 26, sources said on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu first broke news of Modi's visit while addressing the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations on Sunday. "Parliament address on the anvil. Who's coming here next week? Narendra Modi," Netanyahu told the gathering. "Tremendous alliance between Israel and India, and we are going to discuss all sorts of cooperation. Now, you know, India is not a small country. It has 1.4 billion people. India is enormously powerful, enormously popular," he stressed. A source here told PTI that PM Modi's visit is 'likely to be short from February 25 to 26", but "its impact is deep given the popularity Modi enjoys not only in Israel but around the world". While the programme around the visit is being worked out, PM Modi is expected to address the Israeli Knesset (parliament). Modi is likely to touch upon all issues of ..
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a fiery speech at the Knesset (Israeli parliament) on Monday, defended his handling of the country's affairs, asserting that despite a wave of anti-semitism against the Jewish state, it enjoys an unprecedented support from many countries and leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking during a so-called '40-signature debate', a parliamentary mechanism that allows the opposition to compel the Prime Minister to appear once a month at the Knesset forum, Netanyahu put up a strong defence of his government's policy on various fronts, including Israel's foreign relations. "Israel is today stronger than ever," he said. The Israeli Premier hit back at what the opposition described as the collapse of Israel's international standing, arguing that Israel remained diplomatically, militarily, and economically dominant despite its two years at war with Hamas, highlighting his ties to global leaders. Sitting through a series of scathing
Israel doesn't want to annex or occupy Gaza and its sole aim is to destroy Hamas and hand over the strip to a transitory government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday. The prime minister also said that Israel wants to take control of Gaza's security after ending the war as soon as possible. In an interaction with a group of visiting Indian journalists, Netanyahu said over two million tonnes of food were sent to Gaza, but the supplies were "interdicted". The Israeli prime minister's comments came amid increasing international criticism of his government over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, as an estimated 60,000 people were killed in the Israeli military offensive in the last 22 months. Israel launched the war in Gaza after Hamas' attack on October 7, 2023, killed about 1,200 people. Hamas also took 251 people as hostages. "Our plan is not to occupy or annex Gaza. Our goal is to destroy Hamas and get our hostages back, and then hand over Gaza to a transito
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed a former rival, Gideon Saar, as a member of his Cabinet on Sunday, expanding his coalition and strengthening his hold on office. Under their agreement, Netanyahu said Saar would serve as a minister without portfolio and serve in the Security Cabinet, the body that oversees the management of the ongoing war against Israel's enemies across the Middle East. Saar (57) had hoped to replace Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, another rival of Netanyahu's. But a deal to become defence minister fell through several weeks ago after fighting intensified with Hezbollah along Israel's northern border, leaving the popular Gallant in office for the time being. Saar has had a strained relationship with the prime minister. He was once a rising star in Netanyahu's Likud party but angrily left it four years ago after accusing the prime minister of turning it into a "cult of personality" as he battled corruption charges. Since then, however, Saar has ...
A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus has begun, the Health Ministry has said, as Palestinians in the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's military offensives. Meanwhile, Israel's military late Saturday in a terse announcement said it had located a number of bodies during combat in Gaza. The army was trying to identify the bodies, including whether they were hostages, but said the process would take several hours. We ask to refrain from spreading rumors, it said. There were no further details. A small number of children in Gaza received vaccine doses on Saturday, a day before the large-scale rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organisation. There must be a cease-fire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign, said Dr Yousef Abu Al-Rish, Gaza's deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps. .
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will use his ninth diplomatic mission to the Middle East since the start of the Israel-Hamas war to press for the quick conclusion of an elusive cease-fire agreement. Blinken arrived in Israel on Sunday before what mediators have billed as a last push to reach a deal that will take place in Cairo later this week. He will meet with top Israeli officials on Monday before travelling to Egypt on Tuesday. Late last week, the three countries mediating the proposed cease-fire reported progress on a deal under which Israel would halt most military operations in Gaza and release a number of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the release of hostages held by Hamas. A senior official travelling with Blinken said his arrival in the region comes at a critical time in the cease-fire talks and the secretary would press all parties on the importance of concluding it quickly to end civilian suffering in Gaza and prevent the conflict from engulfing the region. T