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The Palestinian death toll from the nearly three-year Israel-Hamas war has surpassed 74,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. While a ceasefire that took effect last Oct. 10 has halted the heaviest fighting, Israeli strikes have continued in what the military has said are responses to threats or attacks. Here is a look at the latest news from the Middle East on Sunday. Gaza ceasefire remains largely stalled ------------------------------------------- Gaza's Health Ministry on Saturday said the Palestinian death toll has risen to 74,016 people, with 175,068 wounded. The war erupted on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas-led militants invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 others hostage. Since the ceasefire, 1,145 Palestinians have been killed, said the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government. It maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by UN agencies and international organisations. It does not distinguish between civilians
Allegations of Israeli genocide in Gaza are not only false but "the biggest lie of the century," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told world leaders Thursday in a defiant speech that asserted his nation's right to wage war against Iran - and was not heard by scores of delegates who trooped out before he started speaking. Netanyahu, his voice rising in emphasis, said attacking Iran "was one of the easiest decisions I've ever had to make" and denounced as "moral cowards" a mass of delegates who walked out of the UN General Assembly when he took the podium to speak. "In defending itself, Israel is also also defending many of the countries whose delegates just left this hall," Netanyahu said. "In fact, I want you to know that many of their leaders even thank us privately for taking out Iran's nukes." When Netanyahu walked to the rostrum, a mix of cheers, boos and mass walkouts erupted. Scores of delegates marched out and a majority of visible seats sat empty afterward. "Order in the ..
The UK on Tuesday announced sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, banning the import of goods from the occupied Palestinian territories which it declared as "illegal". UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband was joined by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in the House of Commons as he delivered a statement to condemn the "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians" in West Bank settlements. While highlighting his own "proud British Jew" heritage, Miliband announced a "new comprehensive sanctions regime with appropriate religious exemptions". "The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories," Miliband told MPs. "So I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories," he said. Miliband said action would be taken against specific companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate
Israel's prime minister has spoken out after weeks of settler violence in the occupied West Bank and condemned the actions of a "handful of rioters." Israeli strikes and fire have killed three Palestinians in Gaza. And Iran's leadership now centres on military generals and clerics who are long entrenched in the ruling theocracy. Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Netanyahu condemnation follows unrest in West Bank town ------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned criminal acts by a "handful of rioters" in the occupied West Bank that he said do injustice to the "law-abiding settler public." His statement follows over two weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers have surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. In an unusually sharp statement, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the sett
US negotiator and President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner held a rare meeting with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya on Sunday in a fresh diplomatic push to advance the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed Gaza road map -- on Monday. The talks aim to salvage the plan for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from Palestine territory. At stake are lives of some two million people in Gaza and reconstruction of the crowded enclave now largely controlled by Israel forces, more than 10 months since the ceasefire ended major military operations. A meeting between Kushner, fellow envoy Steve Witkoff and Hamas leaders in Egypt last year helped clinch the ceasefire, whose progress until now had been stalled over the key issue of Hamas' disarmament. The more than two-hour meeting in Egypt with Hamas' Khalil al-Hayya was confirmed by a regional official and a Hamas official
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed and pushed back on a recent deal announced by US President Donald Trump. Netanyahu's remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as a potential breakthrough for ending the war. It also marked a rare public display of friction with the Trump administration. The agreement called for Hamas to begin disarming and for Israel to halt its strikes and begin withdrawing from the roughly 60 per cent of Gaza it currently controls. It was based on an October ceasefire agreement that ended major military operations and brought about the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza but has stalled on other fronts. Netanyahu, who faces a tough battle for reelection in October, reiterated his stance that disarmament should come first. He said Israeli forces would continue to "do whatever is necessary to protect themselves, our .
The Board of Peace official overseeing Gaza's postwar transition met Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a statement, in part to discuss a new disarmament deal the board reached with Hamas. Nikolay Mladenov, the high representative for Gaza, held "constructive and detailed" talks with the prime minister and his team, the Board of Peace said in a statement. "The goal is clear and is not in question: the complete decommissioning of weapons in the Strip and the transition away from rule by the gun to civilian governance," it said. According to two people familiar with the meeting, Mladenov also pressed Netanyahu to halt Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip. Mladenov and his team, including senior adviser Aryeh Lightstone, are pressuring Israel to stop striking Gaza as they push ahead with the agreement to decommission the weapons held by Hamas. President Donald Trump announced the agreement, which is part of a broader ceasefire deal reached last year, late
President Donald Trump said that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory. Neither Hamas nor Israel gave immediate indication that they had agreed. The White House announcement on Thursday comes nine months after a US-brokered ceasefire was signed. Negotiations between Israel and Hamas had largely deadlocked over the implementation of its second phase, including the disarmament of Hamas and the reconstruction of Gaza. "The agreement will be carried out in carefully structured phases," Trump said on social media. "As disarmament is completed, Israeli forces will withdraw, and the International Stabilization Force will work with a new Palestinian police force to take responsibility for Gaza being safe for its residents and its neighbours." Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan calls on the Iran-backed militant group to surrender its weapo
Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani is "fomenting hate" by calling the prime minister a war criminal who should be arrested over the war in Gaza if he visits the city for the United Nations General Assembly. Netanyahu said he intends to be in New York in September to address the annual UN gathering of world leaders, despite the mayor's suggestion that he is not welcome. Mamdani said last week that while New York City does not have legal authority to execute an arrest warrant issued by the world's top war-crimes court, he encouraged the federal government to do so. "He's supposed to be the mayor of all New Yorkers - Jews, Christians, Muslims, everyone," Netanyahu said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo. "But he's trying to turn one group against the other." The prime minister has become an increasingly polarizing figure over Israel's war in Gaza, which was ignited by the Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on southern ..
India has backed Palestine's bid for United Nations membership and reaffirmed its support for a two-state solution to the festering conflict between the Palestinian people and Israel. New Delhi's position on Palestine was apprised by Sripriya Ranganathan, a secretary at the external affairs ministry during a ministerial meeting of the Palestine Donor Group, held in Brussels on Monday. India has been backing a vision of a "two-state" solution with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders, consistent with international law. At the Palestine Donor Group meeting, Ranganathan emphasised that India has been a long standing partner of the Palestinian people, and reaffirmed India's continued support to a two-state solution as well as to Palestine's membership of the UN, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). She underlined India's ongoing developmental assistance, including capacity building programmes and humanitarian assistanc
Indian-American Congressman Ro Khanna, a 2028 US Presidential aspirant, on Saturday said he was detained by gun-wielding Israeli settlers while on a visit to Palestine. Khanna, a Democrat from California, was visiting on Wednesday the ruins of Khirbet Zanuta, a Bedouin village in the southern West Bank that was abandoned after attacks from Israeli settlers when the incident took place. "Israeli settlers, brandishing American-made M4S, detained me and other Americans on my trip to Palestine. When the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) arrived, they sided with the settlers and continued our detention. They made a huge mistake," Khanna said in a post on X. Khanna's experience was reported by a photographer of The New York Times, who was accompanying the Congressman. "I felt powerless in that situation, which is not an easy thing, as I have a lot of privilege in life," the New York Times quoted Khanna as saying. The report said Khanna was eventually allowed to continue his journey after cal