Gaza Conflict

No Israeli withdrawal from Gaza until complete Hamas disarmament: Netanyahu

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 .

Board of Peace envoy meets Netanyahu to discuss Gaza disarmament deal

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

Board of Peace reached deal with Hamas for Gaza disarmament: Trump

In a post on Truth ‌Social, Trump cast it ​as a 'major milestone in the ​implementation of the Trump 20-Point Plan' to end ​Israel's war in Gaza

Trump announces deal for Hamas to disarm in Gaza but hurdles remain

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

Should the world adopt a law to recognise ecocide as a global crime?

From the Vietnam War to the crisis in West Asia, the environment is no longer just collateral damage. It is becoming a target in its own right

Israel announces closure of Gaza crossings amid tensions with Iran

The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the move is part of 'necessary security measures'

Israel targets new Hamas leader in Gaza, Palestinians report 3 dead

Israel carried out a pair of airstrikes in Gaza City late on Tuesday, killing at least three people and injuring 12, hospital officials said. The strike took place on the eve of Eid al-Azha, a major Muslim holiday. In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Israel Katz, said the strikes had targeted the new leader of Hamas' military wing. They identified him as Mohammed Odeh and called him "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023, attacks, which triggered over two years of war. The strike came less than two weeks after Israel killed the previous head of Hamas' military wing, Izz al-Din al-Haddad. There was no immediate comment from Hamas. The bodies of the dead were taken to Gaza's Shifa Hospital, which confirmed the deaths. The attack came on the eve of Eid al-Azha, normally a joyous time of family gatherings and large meals. The holiday once again is subdued this year in Gaza, where the vast majority of people remain displaced

Here Where We Live Is Our Country: What is Judaism without Zionism?

As debates over Zionism intensify, a new book revisits the Jewish Labour Bund, offering an alternative vision of Jewish identity rooted in "hereness" and solidarity

Israeli strikes kills 12 in Gaza, including 2 children and a pregnant woman

At least 12 Palestinians, including two boys, a pregnant woman and eight police officers, were killed Sunday by Israeli airstrikes in the war-torn Gaza Strip, hospital authorities said. A strike Sunday morning hit a house in the urban refugee camp of Nuseirat in central Gaza and killed four people, including a couple in their 30s and their 10-year son, according to the nearby Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. The woman had been pregnant with twins, the hospital said. The fourth fatality, a 15-year-old neighbor, was taken to the Awda hospital in Nuseirat. "We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong," said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbor. "There was no prior warning." Another strike Sunday afternoon hit a police vehicle on the south-north Salah al-Din route at the entrance of the central town of Zawaida, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said. The strike killed eight police officers, including Col. Iyad Ab Yousef, a senior police official in central Gaza, th

Trump to chair Board of Peace meeting today, discuss security in Gaza

On Sunday, US President Donald Trump said that member states of the newly formed Board of Peace have pledged over $5 billion towards humanitarian and reconstruction efforts in Gaza

Judge bars deportation of Palestinian activist who led protests at Columbia

An immigration judge has blocked the Trump administration from deporting Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian graduate student who led protests at Columbia University against Israel and the war in Gaza. In a ruling made public Tuesday, the judge, Nina Froes, said she had terminated the case because of a procedural misstep by government attorneys, who failed to properly certify an official document they intended to use as evidence. The Trump administration may appeal the decision. But the ruling marked the latest setback for the federal government's sweeping effort to expel pro-Palestinian campus activists and others who expressed criticism of Israel. Last month, a separate immigration blocked the government's attempt to deport a Tufts University graduate student, Rumeysa Ozturk, over an op-ed criticizing the school's response to the war in Gaza. Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident of the US for the last decade, was born in a refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. He was arrested

Israeli strikes kill 3 people near Gaza City amid renewed peace efforts

Israeli military strikes on Monday killed three people west of Gaza City, according to the hospital where the casualties arrived. Shifa Hospital reported the deaths amid the months-old ceasefire that has seen continued fighting. The Israeli army said Monday it is striking targets in response to Israeli troops coming under fire in the southern city of Rafah, which it says was a violation of the ceasefire. The army said it is striking targets "in a precise manner." The four-month-old US-backed ceasefire followed stalled negotiations and included Israel and Hamas accepting a 20-point plan proposed by US President Donald Trump aimed at ending the war unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack into Israel. At the time, Trump said it would lead to a "Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace." Hamas freed all the living hostages it still held at the outset of the deal in exchange for thousands of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and the remains of others. But the larger issues the ...

Gaza's Rafah crossing reopened, but few Palestinians managed to cross

When the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt finally reopened this week, Palestinian officials heralded it as a "window of hope" after two years of war as a fragile ceasefire deal moves forward. But that hope has been sidetracked by disagreements over who should be allowed through, hourslong delays and Palestinian travellers' reports of being handcuffed and interrogated by Israeli soldiers. Far fewer people than expected have crossed in both directions. Restrictions negotiated by Israeli, Egyptian, Palestinian and international officials meant that only 50 people would be allowed to return to Gaza each day and 50 medical patients - along with two companions for each - would be allowed to leave. But over the first four days of operations, just 36 Palestinians requiring medical care were allowed to leave for Egypt, plus 62 companions, according to United Nations data. Palestinian officials say nearly 20,000 people in Gaza are seeking to leave for medical care that they say i

Gaza's Rafah crossing reopens for limited traffic as ceasefire advances

Palestinians in Gaza watched with hope and impatience Sunday as workers laid the groundwork to reopen the territory's Rafah border crossing with Egypt, its lifeline to the world. Israel says the crossing is scheduled to resume Monday as its ceasefire with Hamas moves ahead. "Opening the crossing is a good step, but they set a limit on the number of people allowed to cross, and this is a problem," said Ghalia Abu Mustafa, a woman from Khan Younis. Israel said the crossing had opened in a test, and the Israeli military agency that controls aid to Gaza said residents could begin crossing Monday. But only a small number of people can cross at first. "We want a large number of people to leave, for it to be open so that sick people can go and return," said Suhaila Al-Astal, a woman displaced from the city of Rafah who said her sick daughter needed help abroad. "We want the crossing to be open permanently." Israel's announcement came a day after Israeli strikes killed at least 30 ...

Israeli strikes kill at least 12 in Gaza as ceasefire efforts inch forward

Hospitals in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 Palestinians Saturday, one of the highest tolls since an October agreement aimed at stopping the fighting. The strikes hit locations in northern and southern Gaza, including an apartment building in Gaza City and a tent in Khan Younis, officials at hospitals that received the bodies said. The casualties included two women and six children from two different families. The strikes came a day before a border crossing is set to open in Gaza's southernmost city, a reminder that the death toll is still rising even as a ceasefire agreement inches forward. All of the territory's border crossings have been closed since the start of the war and Palestinians see the Rafah crossing with Egypt as a lifeline for the tens of thousands in need of treatment outside the territory, where the majority of medical infrastructure has been destroyed. Shifa Hospital said the Gaza City strike killed a mother, three children and one of their relatives

US seeks to quell fears that Trump's 'Board of Peace' will replace UN

The Board of Peace is a core element of Trump's 20-point plan that helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas last year

Israel returns 15 Palestinian bodies in final exchange under Gaza ceasefire

Israel turned over the bodies of 15 Palestinians on Thursday, just days after recovering the remains of the last Israeli hostage, a Gaza Health Ministry official said. This marks the last hostage-detainee exchange between Israel and Hamas carried out as part of the first phase of the US-brokered ceasefire reached in October. The Red Cross said it helped facilitate the return of the bodies. They were taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said Zaher al-Wahidi, a spokesperson at the health ministry. The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, had been a key part of the first phase in the ceasefire that paused the war. Israel agreed to return 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage recovered, according to the ceasefire terms. It's unclear if the bodies released Thursday were of Palestinian detainees who died in Israeli custody or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops during the war. Israel has released roughly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners under the ceasefire deal, many who

Express appreciation to US in addressing 'long-standing' Gaza issue: India

India voiced appreciation to the US towards addressing the "long-standing" conflict in Gaza as New Delhi noted the recent progress with regard to the implementation of the UN Security Council resolution on the issue. These remarks were made by India's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Parvathaneni Harish on Wednesday. "India takes note of recent progress with regard to the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 to end the Gaza conflict. India also takes this opportunity to express appreciation to the United States in addressing this long-standing issue," Harish said in his remarks to the UN Security Council open debate on the Situation in the Middle East. The UN Security Council resolution 2803, adopted in November last year, endorsed US President Donald Trump's 'Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict' of September 29 that entails that "Gaza will be a deradicalised terror-free zone that does not pose a threat to its neighbours" and will be redevelope

Recovery of last Gaza hostage remains opens path for ceasefire phase two

The remains of the final hostage in Gaza have been recovered, Israel's military said Monday, clearing the way for the next phase of the ceasefire that paused the Israel-Hamas war. The announcement that the remains of Ran Gvili had been found and identified came a day after Israel's government said the military was conducting a "large-scale operation" in a cemetery in northern Gaza to locate them. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "an incredible achievement" for Israel and its soldiers, telling Israeli media that "I promised we would bring everyone home and we have brought everyone home." He said Gvili, who was killed during the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, that sparked the war, was among the first to be taken into Gaza. The return of all remaining hostages, living or dead, has been a key part of the Gaza ceasefire's first phase, and Gvili's family had urged Israel's government not to enter the second phase until his remains were recovered and returned. Netanyahu's ..