Page 20 - Gaza Conflict

Israel-Hezbollah truce 'within grasp' as Gaza food crisis worsens: US envoy

A US envoy said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is "within our grasp" after talks in Lebanon on Tuesday. However, there was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis. Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration's pointsman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived as Hezbollah's allies in the Lebanese government said the militant group had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both its fighters and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The buffer zone would be policed by thousands of additional UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. Israel has called for a stronger enforcement mechanism, potentially including the ability to conduct military operations against any Hezbollah threats, something Lebanon is likely to oppose. An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Lebanese army base in the southern town of Sarafand, killing three soldiers, the arm

Israeli strike in Beirut kills Hezbollah spokesman, strike in Gaza kills 30

A rare Israeli airstrike on central Beirut killed Hezbollah's chief spokesman on Sunday, an official with the militant group said. Earlier, officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 12 people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been at war with the Palestinian Hamas for over a year. The latest in targeted killings of senior Hezbollah officials came as Lebanese officials considered a United States-led cease-fire proposal. Israel also bombed several buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has long been headquartered, after warning people to evacuate. Mohammed Afif, the head of media relations for Hezbollah, was killed in a strike on the Arab socialist Baath party's office in central Beirut, according to a Hezbollah official who was not authorized to brief reporters and spoke on condition of anonymity. Afif had been especially visible after all-out war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah in September and the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israe

Pope Francis demands probe on genocide claims over Israel's attacks on Gaza

Pope Francis has called for an investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute genocide, according to excerpts released on Sunday from an upcoming new book ahead of the pontiff's jubilee year. It's the first time that Francis has openly urged for an investigation of genocide allegations over Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip. In September, he said Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon have been immoral and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war. The book, by Hernn Reyes Alcaide and based on interviews with the Pope, is entitled Hope never disappoints. Pilgrims towards a better world". It will be released on Tuesday ahead of the pope's 2025 jubilee. Francis' yearlong jubilee is expected to bring more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome to celebrate the Holy Year. According to some experts, what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide, the pope said in excerpts published Sunday by the Italian daily La Stampa. We sho

Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct 1 invasion

Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported. The clashes and further Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war. Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the troops were later pushed back. The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be immediately verified. Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue their limited, localized and targeted operational .

Israel's conduct in Gaza consistent with characteristics of genocide: UN

The UN Committee alleged Israel of intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury

Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of war crimes, forced exile in Gaza Strip

Human Rights Watch says Israel is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip, including massive forced displacements that amount to ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from parts of Gaza. Palestinians have been killed while evacuating under Israeli orders and in Israeli-designated humanitarian zones, where hundreds of thousands are crammed into squalid tent camps, according to the report released Thursday by the New York-based rights watchdog. The report said the widespread, deliberate demolition of homes and civilian infrastructure throughout Gaza, particularly in a military road that cuts Gaza in half as well as a buffer zone along the border, was likely to "permanently displace" many Palestinians. Israel said the report distorts the facts and leaves out important context, blaming civilian casualties on Hamas operating in residential areas and emphasizing that Israel does not deliberately target civilians. Israel's blistering 13-month war in Gaza has killed

Gaza's freed hostages meet Pope Francis, push campaign to bring others home

A delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their relatives met Thursday with Pope Francis and expressed hope that the incoming and outgoing US administrations would work together to bring the remaining hostages home. The freed hostages included Yelena Troufanov, who was released last November but whose son Sasha remains in Gaza and appeared in a video released Wednesday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. You see in the picture how my child has changed over the course of this year, Yelena Troufanov told a news conference in Rome after the papal audience. I am very worried about his condition, I see that he is not in a good mental state and not in a good physical state. She and the other former hostages and relatives renewed their calls for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, especially with winter approaching. They said they hoped the incoming Trump administration would work with the outgoing Biden administration to push the process forward. The war star

Israel kills 200 Hezbollah terrorists, destroys 140 launchers in a week

Targets included a launcher from which rockets were fired into the Western Galilee and central Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday

Saudi Arabia important factor for stability in West Asia: EAM Jaishankar

EAM Jaishankar emphasised India's commitment to condemning acts of terrorism and hostage-taking while expressing deep concern over the continuing deaths of civilians

Children from Gaza brought to heal wounds now caught in Lebanon conflict

When Zarifa Nawfal's family arrived in Beirut for her wounded daughter's surgery, one of the first things she wanted to do was go to the sea. The Mediterranean had been a constant companion at their home in Gaza before the war. The moment I smelled the sea, I felt at peace inside as if I were in Gaza, she said. But soon their place of refuge reminded her of home in far more distressing ways. Nawfal's 7-year-old daughter, Halima Abou Yassine, is one of a dozen severely wounded Palestinian children brought to Lebanon this year for treatment through a program launched by a British-Palestinian surgeon, Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta. But months after their arrival, Lebanon is itself embroiled in a war some fear will end in Gaza-like destruction. In February, Nawfal was staying with her five children and her mother in an apartment in central Gaza. They had been displaced from their home in the north and Nawfal's husband was missing, likely dead. The children were filling water containers outs

Israeli strikes kill at least 46 people in Gaza Strip, 33 in Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 46 people in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, including 11 at a makeshift cafeteria in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone, medics said. In Lebanon, warplanes struck Beirut's southern suburbs and killed 33 people elsewhere in the country on Tuesday. The latest bombardment came as the United States said it would not reduce its military support for Israel after a deadline passed for allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza. The State Department cited some progress, even as international aid groups said Israel had failed to meet the US demands. In Lebanon, large explosions shook Beirut's southern suburbs an area known as Dahiyeh, where Hezbollah has a significant presence soon after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for 11 houses there. There was no immediate word on casualties. The Israeli military said it targeted Hezbollah infrastructure, including command centers and weapons production sites, without providing evidence. Anot

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 14; fails to meet US demand to allow aid

Palestinian medical officials said two Israeli strikes in Gaza killed at least 14 people, including two children and a woman. The deaths came as eight international aid groups said in a report on Tuesday that Israel has failed to meet US demands that it allow greater humanitarian access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war. A late Monday strike hit a cafeteria in the so-called Muwasi humanitarian zone west of the Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing at least 11 people, including two children, according to officials at Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were taken. Another strike early Tuesday hit a house in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing three people including a woman, according to al-Awda Hospital, which received the casualties. The Biden administration last month called on Israel to surge more food and other emergency aid into Gaza, setting a 30-day deadline that was expiring Tuesday. It warn

EU High Representative condemns Israeli airstrike on Jabalia in Gaza

He stressed that the use of hunger as a weapon of war contradicts international humanitarian law

Israel begins construction along UN-patrolled demilitarised zone in Syria

Israel has begun a construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria, apparently laying asphalt for a road right along the frontier, satellite photos analysed by The Associated Press show. Israeli troops have entered the demilitarised zone during the work, the United Nations confirmed to the AP, a violation of the cease-fire rules governing the area. The work, which earlier satellite photos show began in earnest in late September, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip's frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where United Nations peacekeepers have come under fire. So far, there has been no major violence along the Alpha Line, which delineates the demilitarised zone between Syria and Israeli-occupied territory that UN peacekeepers have patrolled since 1974. Syria, which has been at war wit

Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon, Gaza; Netanyahu, Trump speak

Israeli strikes killed dozens of people including children on Sunday in Lebanon and isolated northern Gaza, as the world watched for signs of how the US election might affect the war against Iranian-backed militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has spoken three times with Donald Trump since Tuesday's election and they see eye-to-eye regarding the Iranian threat and all of its components. Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, is scheduled to meet with US President Joe Biden on Tuesday. The Israeli airstrike in Lebanon killed at least 23 people including seven children in Aalmat village north of Beirut, far from the areas in the east and south where Hezbollah has a major presence. There was no Israeli evacuation warning. There was no immediate Israeli comment. Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel after war broke out in Gaza, in solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Israel retaliated, and a series of escalati

'Serves no purpose': Why Qatar won't mediate between Israel and Hamas

Officials say Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel. However, Qatar is highly likely to return to the efforts if both sides show serious political willingness to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one official. A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made. The source added that as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose in Qatar. The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal.

Two Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 13, say Palestinian officials

Two separate Israeli strikes killed at least 13 people, including women and children, in Gaza on Saturday, Palestinian medical officials said, as Israel announced the first delivery of aid in weeks to the war-battered northern Gaza. One of the strikes hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City's eastern Tufah neighbourhood, killing at least six people, Gaza's Health Ministry said. Two local journalists, a pregnant woman and a child were among the dead, the ministry said. The Israeli army said the strike targeted a militant belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, offering no evidence or further detail. Another seven people were killed when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the southern city of Khan Younis where displaced people were sheltering, according to Nasser Hospital. It said the dead included two women and a child. The Israeli army did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the blast. COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of humanitarian aid

WHO chief warns of imminent famine in North Gaza, calls to scale up efforts

He gave a call for an immediate scale-up and safe access for humanitarian aid, primarily food and medicines to tackle severe malnutrition

Israel Defence Forces to open Kissufim crossing to facilitate aid in Gaza

Kissufim is a small border crossing into southern Gaza near Kibbutz Kissufim, one of the sites attacked by Hamas

Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza, where Palestinians are without food

An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, as Palestinians fled Israel's assault. Some said they had hardly eaten, with aid cut off for weeks to the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory. Israel has been waging an offensive in Gaza's northernmost end for weeks, saying it is targeting Hamas militants who regrouped in the area. The UN has said Israel hasn't allowed food and other supplies into the area north of Gaza City since the assault began, even as tens of thousands of people remain there. That has drawn rebukes from the Biden administration, which has warned that US laws might force it to curb military aid to Israel if more aid is not allowed in. The strike late Monday hit a home where several displaced families were sheltering in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel, according to Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the recently raided and barely functioning ..