Page 22 - Gaza Conflict

Israel may use a secret stealth drone against Iran. Here's what we know

US reportedly investigating last week's leak of its highly classified intelligence about Israeli plans for retaliation against Iran's October 1 missile barrage

Displacement from Israel-Hezbollah war transforms Beirut's famed street

Inside what was once one of Beirut's oldest and best-known cinemas, dozens of Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians displaced by the Israel-Hezbollah war spend their time following the news on their phones, cooking, chatting and walking around to pass the time. Outside on Hamra Street, once a thriving economic hub, sidewalks are filled with displaced people, and hotels and apartments are crammed with those seeking shelter. Cafes and restaurants are overflowing. In some ways, the massive displacement of hundreds of thousands of people from south Lebanon, the eastern Bekaa Valley and Beirut's southern suburbs has provided a boost for this commercial district after years of decline as a result of Lebanon's economic crisis. But it is not the revival many had hoped for. The displacement revived Hamra Street in a wrong way, said the manager of a four-star hotel on the boulevard, who requested anonymity to speak candidly about the problems the influx has caused for the neighbourhood. For th

Israel accuses 6 Al Jazeera journalists of being Palestinian militants

The Israeli army on Wednesday accused six Al Jazeera journalists covering the war in Gaza of also being current or former paid fighters for Palestinian militant groups. Al Jazeera rejected the claims. Israel cited documents it purportedly found in Gaza, and other intelligence it gathered, in making the accusations against the journalists, all of whom are Palestinian men. It said four are or have been affiliated with Hamas, and two with Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Al Jazeera said the accusations were fabricated and part of a wider pattern of hostility toward the pan-Arab network. It said the claims were a blatant attempt to silence the few remaining journalists in the region, thereby obscuring the harsh realities of the war from audiences worldwide. The AP has been unable to independently verify the authenticity of the documents Israel posted online to support its claims. Al Jazeera is based in the energy-rich nation of Qatar, where many senior Hamas officials are based. The Gulf Ara

Sirens echo across Tel Aviv as projectiles intercepted near Blinken's hotel

Air raid sirens echoed across Tel Aviv on Wednesday as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken prepared to end a visit. Smoke, apparently from an intercepted projectile, could be seen in the sky above the hotel where Blinken was staying. Blinken said Israel needs to pursue an enduring strategic success after its recent tactical victories against Hamas, urging it to seek a deal to end the war and bring back dozens of hostages before leaving for Saudi Arabia, as part of his 11th visit to the region since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. But both sides appear to be dug in. Netanyahu has pledged to annihilate Hamas and recover dozens of hostages held by the group. Hamas says it will only release the captives in return for a lasting cease-fire, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the release of Palestinian prisoners. On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led militants blew holes in Israel's security fence and stormed in, killing some 1,200 people - mostly civilians - and abducting another 250. ...

It could take 350 years for Gaza to rebuild if blockade remains: UN report

UN agencies have long warned that it could take decades to rebuild Gaza after Israel's offensive against Hamas, one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns since World War II. Now, more than a year into the war, a new report speaks in terms of centuries. The UN Conference on Trade and Development said in a report released on Monday that if the war ends tomorrow and Gaza returns to the status quo before Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, it could take 350 years for its battered economy to return to its precarious prewar level. Before the war, Gaza was under an Israeli and Egyptian blockade imposed after Hamas seized power in 2007. Four previous wars and divisions between Hamas and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority in the West Bank also took a toll on Gaza's economy. The current war has caused staggering destruction across the territory, with entire neighbourhoods obliterated and roads and critical infrastructure in ruins. Mountains of rubble laced with

UN failure reason for 600 aid trucks just sitting at Gaza border: Israel

COGAT also said that it has coordinated pick-up at various hours, expanded routes to improve traffic to the crossings, set up a tactical pause along the route

Israel mourns killing of highest-ranking officer Ehsan Daqsa in war

Col. Ehsan Daqsa, who commanded the Israel Defense Force's 401st Armored Brigade, was killed in battle in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza

Drone targets Netanyahu's house while strikes in Gaza kill more than 50

Israel's government said a drone targeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's house Saturday, with no casualties, as fighting with Lebanon-based Hezbollah and Gaza-based Hamas showed no pause after the killing of the Hamas mastermind of last year's October 7 attack. Israel's military said dozens of projectiles were launched from Lebanon a day after Hezbollah announced a new phase in fighting. Netanyahu's office said the drone targeted his house in the Mediterranean coastal town of Caesarea. Neither he nor his wife were there. It wasn't clear if the house was hit. The proxies of Iran who today tried to assassinate me and my wife made a bitter mistake, Netanyahu said. Hezbollah didn't claim responsibility for the drone attack, but said it carried out several rocket attacks on northern and central Israel. The barrage came as Israel is expected to respond to an attack earlier this month by Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel in turn carried out at least 10 airstrikes on

Freedom of expression threatened most in Gaza as media targeted: UN expert

Freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn territory and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert said Friday. Irene Khan, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza. The banning of Al Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct the documentation of possible international crimes, she said. Khan also sharply criticized the discrimination and double standards that have seen restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speech. She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were crushed harshly on U.S. college campuses, and ...

Israeli forces unearth Hezbollah's web of tunnels in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces have spent much of the past year destroying Hamas' vast underground network in Gaza. They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. Scarred by Hamas' deadly raid into Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent a similar incursion across its northern border from ever getting off the ground. The Israeli military has combed through the dense brush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah's deep attack capabilities highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that Israel says pose a direct threat to nearby communities. Israel's war against the Iran-backed militant group stretches far inside Lebanon, and its airstrikes in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and children, according to local health authorities. But its ground campaign has centered

Russia willing to seek compromises between Iran and Israel, says Putin

Putin said, "We are in contact with Israel, we are in contact with Iran. We have quite trusting relations. And we would very much like this endless exchange of blows to be stopped at some point"

Pepsi, Coke bottlers face can, sugar shortage in West Bank; prices soar

Sugar and cans previously were transported to West Bank bottlers from Jordan via the bridge, which has been closed for quite some time now

Hamas chief Sinwar's death came after months of searching by Israel

Head of Israel's military, Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, said Israel's pursuit of Sinwar over the past year drove him 'to act like a fugitive, causing him to change locations multiple times'

Will not rest until bring back all hostages: IDF after killing Sinwar

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari informed that 101 hostages are still in Hamas captivity

Sinwar's killing opens up opportunity, uncertainty for war in Gaza

Israel's killing of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' top leader and the mastermind of the group's Oct. 7 attack, is a dramatic turning point in the brutal yearlong war that it touched off. Sinwar's killing on Thursday decapitates the Palestinian militant group that has already been reeling from months of assassinations up and down its ranks. And it is a potent symbolic achievement for Israel in its battle to destroy Hamas. The killing, coming just 10 days after Israelis and Palestinians marked a year since the deadliest fighting in their decades-old conflict erupted, could set the stage for how the remainder of the war plays out, or even prompt its conclusion depending on how Israel and Hamas choose to proceed. Sinwar's death could serve as an off-ramp for Israel toward ending the warSinwar, who was appointed head of Hamas after its previous leader was killed in a blast in July blamed on Israel, spent years building up Hamas' military strength and is believed to have devised the Oct. 7, 2023,

Will redouble effort to end Israel-Hamas war as Sinwar 'removed': US

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the Sinwar has not only refused to return the hostages but also turned down the seize fire proposal

Sinwar's death 'good day' for world, opportunity for hostage deal: Biden

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli troops is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world, and called it an opportunity" to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas and end the yearlong war in Gaza. Biden, in a statement, compared it to the feeling in the US after the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, saying the killing of the mastermind of the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes. Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them and to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all. Biden said with Sinwar's death there is now the opportunity for a day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement .

Hamas top leader Yahya Sinwar killed, confirms Israel's foreign minister

Israel's foreign minister has confirmed that Israeli troops in Gaza have killed Hamas' top leader Yahya Sinwar, a chief architect of last year's attack on Israel that sparked the war. Sinwar has topped Israel's most wanted list since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war just over a year ago, and his killing strikes a powerful blow to the militant group. There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas of his death. Foreign Minister Katz called Sinwar's killing a military and moral achievement for the Israeli army. The assassination of Sinwar will create the possibility to immediately release the hostages and to bring a change that will lead to a new reality in Gaza - without Hamas and without Iranian control, he said in a statement.

Gaza strip remains at risk of famine due to war, say hunger experts

The Gaza Strip is still at risk of famine more than a year into the Israel-Hamas war, even as the number of people facing the most extreme level of hunger has declined in recent months, the international authority on hunger crises said on Thursday. The findings come after the United States warned Israel that it might cut off military aid if its ally does not do more to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Hundreds of thousands of people there are displaced from their homes and packed into squalid tent camps and schools-turned-shelters. In recent weeks Israel has once again ordered the evacuation of the northern third of Gaza, and it launched another major military operation there. It allowed no food to enter the north for roughly the first two weeks of October before resuming shipments on Monday. In a statement announcing a second shipment on Wednesday, the military said it will continue to act in accordance with international law "to facilitate and ease the entry of humanitari

Checking possibility of Hamas leader Sinwar being killed in operations: IDF

Sinwar, the chief architect of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war, was named leader of Hamas following the assassination of former leader Ismail Haniyeh