Page 21 - Gaza Conflict

Israeli airstrike kills 20 people in North Gaza, say Palestinian officials

Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of a nearby hospital that received the casualties, said the strike late Monday hit a home in the town of Beit Lahiya where multiple families were sheltering. The dead included eight women and six children, according to a list provided by the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has been waging a massive offensive in northern Gaza which was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory for nearly a month. It has ordered the complete evacuation of Beit Lahiya, the nearby town of Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and has allowed almost no humanitarian aid into the area for over a month. Tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement in the war, which began whe

Israel terminates agreement with UNRWA, agency providing aid in Gaza

Israel said on Monday it had terminated the agreement facilitating the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main aid provider in Gaza, in what appeared to be a step to implement legislation passed last month that would sever ties with the agency and prevent it from operating in Israel. Israel says the agency, known as UNRWA, has been infiltrated by Hamas. UNRWA denies the allegations and says it takes measures to ensure its neutrality. On Sunday, Israel said its troops had carried out a ground raid into Syria to seize a Syrian it accuses of working with Iran. It was the first time in the current war that Israel announced its troops operated in Syrian territory. Despite growing pressure from the United States and others in the international community for a cease-fire in Gaza and Lebanon, intensified Israeli strikes against the Hezbollah militant group are expanding beyond Lebanon's border areas. Israel is also fighting a seemingly endless war against Hamas in northern

Israeli forces capture senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon

An Israeli military official said Saturday that Israeli naval forces captured a senior Hezbollah operative in north Lebanon. The operation took place in the northern Lebanese town of Batroun, the official said without providing the name of the person they detained. Earlier on Saturday, Lebanese authorities said it was investigating whether Israel was behind the capture of a Lebanese sea captain who was taken away by a group of armed men who had landed on the coast of Batroun on Friday. The operative has been transferred to Israeli territory and is currently being investigated, the official said.

Indian embassy in constant touch with diaspora in Israel, says MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs expressed its concern on the recent developments in West Asia after precision strike of Israel on Iran's military sites

Israel pummels Gaza, Lebanon, killing dozens in latest waves of airstrikes

Israel launched waves of deadly airstrikes across Lebanon and Gaza that killed at least 24 people in Lebanon's northeast on Friday, according to the state-run National News Agency, and transformed once-bustling neighbourhood blocks in Beirut into smoldering ruins. Meanwhile in central Gaza, Palestinians recovered the bodies of 25 people killed in a barrage of Israeli attacks that began Thursday, hospital officials said. Israel said it targeted Hamas infrastructure near the Nuseirat refugee camp. The latest violence comes against the backdrop of the Biden administration's renewed diplomatic push days before the US election to reach temporary cease-fire deals. Israel has stepped up its war against Hamas' remaining fighters in Gaza, pulverizing areas in the north and raising fears of worsening humanitarian conditions for the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians still there. Israel has broadened its strikes in Lebanon to bigger urban hubs in recent weeks after initially targeted smalle

Singapore urges all parties to reach ceasefire in Gaza, release hostages

Singapore has urged all parties in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict to reach a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and immediately release of all hostages unconditionally. Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also expressed Singapore's "deep concern" over the Israeli Parliament's recent legislation that bans UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem. The law was passed on October 28. The concern is how it "will hamper or hinder the essential work of UN agencies in providing relief to the people in Gaza and beyond", he said. "Singapore commends the work of Unicef, UNRWA and the other UN agencies for the essential role they provided and continue to provide for life-saving support in Gaza," he said, ahead of a ceremony that saw local charity Rahmatan Lil Alamin Foundation (RLAF) handing over SGD700,000 to UN children's agency Unicef. "We urge all parties to adhere to international law, including that we respect and protect the individual

Apocalyptic situation unfolding in North Gaza amid ongoing attacks: UN

Amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, the United Nations on Friday said that the "situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic" and said that the area continues to reel under the continuous attacks and is being denied basic aid and life-saving supplies.Sharing a post on X, the UN wrote, "The situation unfolding in North Gaza is apocalyptic.""UN & civil society leaders urge Israel to cease its assault on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help. They reiterate their call to everyone fighting to protect civilians," the post added.UN's Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) further urged parties engaged in conflict in Gaza to protect civilians and called on Israel to stop its attack on Gaza and on the humanitarians trying to help the residents of Gaza.Created by the United Nations General Assembly in 1991, the IASC is the longest-standing and highest-level humanitarian coordination forum of the United Nations system.In a statement, the IASC said, "We the leaders of 15

Israeli strikes kill 25 persons in central Gaza, 13 people in Lebanon

The death toll from Israeli strikes in the central Gaza Strip rose to 25, including five children, as more bodies were recovered, while officials said that 13 people were killed in airstrikes in Lebanon on Friday. Sixteen people had initially been reported killed in two strikes on Thursday on the Gaza Strip's central Nuseirat refugee camp, but officials from the Al-Aqsa hospital said bodies continued to be brought in. Overall, the hospital said they had received 21 dead from the strikes, including some transferred from the Awda hospital, where they had been brought the day before. One of the strikes killed an 18-month-old and his 10-year-old sister the children's mother was missing as of Friday while the father was killed by an Israeli airstrike four months ago, the family told The Associated Press at Aqsa hospital. Strikes on a motorcycle in Zuwaida and on a house in Deir al-Balah on Friday killed four more people, the hospital officials said, bringing the overall toll to 25. Th

New push to wind down Middle East conflicts faces familiar challenges

The United States and other mediators are ramping up efforts to halt the wars in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, circulating new proposals to wind down the regional conflict during the Biden administration's final months. Negotiations on both fronts have been stalled for months and none of the warring parties have shown any sign of backing down from their demands. Senior White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein are scheduled to visit Israel on Thursday for talks on possible cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, and the release of hostages held by Hamas. CIA Director Bill Burns will go to Egypt to discuss those efforts, according to a US official who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. A proposal to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah calls for a two-month cease-fire during which Israeli forces would withdraw from Lebanon, and Hezbollah would end its armed presence along the country's southern border, two other officials familiar

Biden, Cyprus president discuss means for ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon

President Joe Biden and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Wednesday discussed a new effort by the US administration and mediators in the Middle East to forge cease-fires to end fighting in Lebanon and Gaza. Christodoulides leads the European Union nation closest to Gaza. The small Mediterranean island nation has played a critical role in efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza since the war between Hamas and Israel began more than a year ago. He said that Biden and White House officials briefed him on the latest stepped-up efforts by the US administration and other mediators but declined to offer further details about the discussion. The most important priority that the international community has now is to have a cease-fire in the region, Christodoulides told reporters after his Oval Office talks with Biden. Senior White House officials Brett McGurk and Amos Hochstein will visit Israel on Thursday for talks on possible cease-fires in both Lebanon and Gaza, and on the ..

Who is Sheikh Naim Qassem - the new face of Hezbollah after Nasrallah?

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant labels Sheikh Naim Qassem's appointment a 'temporary' measure while predicting his term would not last

Israel must step in if it bans the UN agency that is lifeline for Gaza: UN

The United Nations stressed Tuesday that if Israel puts in place new laws cutting ties with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the Israeli government will have to meet their needs under international law. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter obtained by The Associated Press that there is no other alternative to the agency, known as UNRWA. It has been a lifeline during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and the Israeli legislation will have devastating consequences for Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he said. The UN agencies for children, health and migration also stressed that UNRWA is the backbone of the world body's operations in Gaza, where people have relied on its emergency food aid and health centers during the more than yearlong war, which has killed tens of thousands and left much of the enclave in ruins. The United Nations is heartened by statements of support for UNRWA from all quarters and countries, U.N. spokesman Stephane .

Israel strikes 200 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon; Gaza raids continue

Among the terrorists killed in south Lebanon was Abbas Adnan Moslem, the commander of the Aitaroun area in Hezbollah's elite Radwan unit

Israeli strike in northern Gaza killed 34 people, says Palestinian official

An Israeli strike on a five-story building where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in the northern Gaza Strip killed at least 34 people early Tuesday, more than half of them women and children, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry's emergency service said another 20 people were wounded in the strike in the northern town of Beit Lahiya, near the Israeli border. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has been waging a large-scale operation in northern Gaza for more than three weeks, targeting what it says are pockets of Hamas militants who have regrouped there. The dead included a mother and her five children, some of them adults, and a second mother with her six children, according to an initial casualty list provided by the emergency service. Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, said it was overwhelmed by the wave of wounded people from the strike. Israeli forces raided the medical facility over the weekend, ...

Israel approves two bills that may halt UNRWA's aid delivery to Gaza

Israel's parliament has passed two laws that could prevent the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, a main provider of aid to Gaza, from being able to continue its work. The laws ban the agency, UNRWA, from operating in Israel, designate it a terror organisation, and cut all ties between the agency and the Israeli government. It's the culmination of a long-running campaign against the agency, which Israel contends has been infiltrated by Hamas. But supporters say Israel's real aim is to sideline the issue of Palestinian refugees. The agency is the major distributor of aid in Gaza and provides education, health and other basic services to millions of Palestinian refugees across the region, including in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The head of the agency, Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini, called the move unprecedented on X following the vote and said the bills will only deepen the suffering Palestinians, especially in Gaza where people have been going through more than a year

Israeli Cabinet meets in secret location after Iran vows to retaliate

Israeli officials said that, for security reasons, the cabinet wouldn't meet at its usual place in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in Jerusalem

Detained 100 suspected militants in raid on Gaza hospital, says Israel

Israel's military said it detained 100 suspected Hamas militants in a raid on a hospital in northern Gaza over the weekend. Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya on Friday, detaining 44 male staff, according to the World Health Organisation. Palestinian medical officials said the hospital, which was treating some 200 patients, was heavily damaged in the raid. Israel has raided several hospitals in Gaza over the course of the yearlong war, saying Hamas and other militants use them for military purposes. Palestinian medical officials deny those allegations and accuse the military of recklessly endangering civilians. The Israeli military has called on Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza, where it has been waging a large offensive for more than three weeks. The UN said earlier this month at least 400,000 people are still in northern Gaza and hunger is rampant as the amount of humanitarian aid reaching the north has plummeted over the past month. Israel's offensiv

Egypt proposes two-day Gaza ceasefire to facilitate return of 4 hostages

This proposal, which includes an additional 10 days of negotiations following the release of the hostages

Israel's latest strike on Iran may de-escalate regional tensions for now

Israel's latest strike against Iran may actually de-escalate regional tensions - for now, at least

Israel says it has completed its strikes on Iran, including missile plants

The Israeli military launched strikes early Saturday on military targets in Iran, officials said. It wasn't immediately clear what the targets were. Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions around Iran's capital, Tehran, without immediately elaborating. An Israeli military statement said that Israel has the right and the duty to respond. The regime in Iran and its proxies in the region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 on seven fronts including direct attacks from Iranian soil, the statement read. It also did not elaborate on the targets. Iranian state television later identified some of the blasts as coming from air defense systems, without offering more details. Iran has launched two ballistic missile attacks on Israel in recent months. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story follows below.