Page 32 - Gaza Conflict

Israeli Army announces 'tactical pause' to increase flow of aid into Gaza

The Israeli military on Sunday announced a tactical pause in its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to allow the deliveries of increased quantities of humanitarian aid. The army said the pause would begin in the Rafah area at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT, 1 a.m. eastern) and remain in effect until 7 p.m. (1600 GMT, noon eastern). It said the pauses would take place every day until further notice. The pause is aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for incoming aid, and travel safely to the Salah a-Din highway, a main north-south road, to deliver supplies to other parts of Gaza, the military said. It said the pause was being coordinated with the U.N. and international aid agencies. The crossing has suffered from a bottleneck since Israeli ground troops moved into Rafah in early May. Israel's eight-month military offensive against the Hamas militant group has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, with the U.N. reporting

Israel to halt daytime fighting along route in southern Gaza for aid flow

Israel's military announced on Sunday that it would pause fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries for desperate Palestinians enduring a humanitarian crisis sparked by the war, now in its ninth month. The tactical pause," which applies to about 12 kilometres of road in the Rafah area, falls far short of a complete cease-fire in the beleaguered territory that has been sought by the international community, including Israel's top ally, the United States. The limited halt in fighting could help address some of the overwhelming needs of Palestinians that have surged in recent weeks with Israel's incursion into Rafah. The army said the pause would begin at 8 am (0500 GMT) and last until 7 pm (1600 GMT). It said the pauses would be daily until further notice. The pause is aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for aid, and travel safely to the Sa

8 Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza, only one identified by army till now

Israel's military said on Saturday that eight soldiers were killed in southern Gaza in the deadliest attack in months. Only one of the dead troops was identified by the army. No further information was immediately available. The deaths will likely fuel calls for a cease-fire and heighten Israeli public anger over ultra-Orthodox exemptions from the military.

Israel accused of killing own citizens in 'Hannibal Directive'. What is it?

Israeli forces allegedly applied the so-called 'Hannibal Directive' and killed at least 14 Israeli civilians during the October 7 Hamas attack, claims a recent UN-backed inquiry

US tech giant Intel halts expansion plan for $25 billion Israel chip plant

Intel did not give any specific reason for the decision and made no link to the ongoing war in Gaza, in which over 37,000 Palestinians have been killed

Report cites crimes by Israeli Army, Palestinian militants starting Oct 7

UN-backed human rights experts say in a report issued Wednesday that Israeli forces and Palestinian militants engaged in sexual and gender-based violence during the first months of the Israel-Hamas war. The independent experts, in a detailed chronicling of events that have mostly been reported in the media, said Israeli forces and Palestinian militants committed war crimes, while Israel was also said to have committed crimes against humanity. Israel, which has refused to cooperate with the body and accused it of bias, rejected the allegations. The report, which covered the time between the Oct 7 rampage and the end of last year, laid out a wide array of alleged rights violations and crimes by both sides during the conflict. It said Israeli forces had committed acts including forced starvation, murder or willful killing, collective punishment and intentional attacks on civilians, and that the military wings of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups had performed deliberate killings

More than 1.5 mn foreign Muslims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage

Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale. Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday. Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage. The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year, because

Brics expresses concern over unprecedented escalation of violence in Gaza

The BRICS nations on Monday expressed grave concern over the "unprecedented" escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli military operations and reaffirmed their support for Palestine's full membership in the United Nations. At a meeting in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod, the BRICS foreign ministers reiterated the grouping's unwavering commitment to the vision of a two-state solution to the Palestine issue based on international law. Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs Dammu Ravi represented India at the crucial meeting. The BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. "The ministers expressed grave concern at the deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, in particular the unprecedented escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli military operation that led to mass civilian displacement, death and casualties," a joint ..

UNSC approves US-drafted proposal supporting ceasefire in Gaza war

The resolution was notably adopted with 14 votes in favor, zero against, and one abstention by Russia, as the country chose not to exercise its veto power

Israeli Min Benny Gantz quits Netanyahu's cabinet over handling of Gaza war

Gantz's decision comes at a time when the war between Israel and Hamas is in its eighth month, and the situation in West Asia remains fragile

Colombia will suspend coal exports to Israel over Gaza war, says Prez Petro

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Saturday that his country will suspend coal exports to Israel over the war in Gaza, as relations sour between two countries that were once close military and commercial allies. Petro wrote on the social media platform X that coal exports will only resume when the genocide in Gaza stops. Petro also posted a draft decree, which says that coal exports will only resume if Israel complies with a recent order by the International Court of Justice that says Israel should withdraw its troops from the Gaza strip. According to Colombia's National Statistics Department, coal exports to Israel were worth more than $320 million in the first eight months of last year. That's a small fraction of the nation's overall coal exports which were worth more than $9 billion in 2023. Israel imports more than 50% of its coal from Colombia, according to the American Journal for Transportation, and uses much of it to feed its power plants. Petro, who was elected

Aid is delivered to Gaza from newly repaired US-built pier, says official

Badly needed aid has been delivered into Gaza from a newly repaired American-built pier, a U.S. official said Saturday, following problems that had plagued the effort to bring supplies to Palestinians by sea. The pier constructed by the American military was only operational for about a week before it was blown apart in high winds and heavy seas on May 25. The damaged section was reconnected to the beach in Gaza on Friday after undergoing repairs at an Israeli port. Crews delivered about 1.1 million pounds (492 metric tons) of humanitarian aid to Gaza via the pier on Saturday, the U.S. official said. They spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement of the delivery. It came the same day that Israel mounted a heavy air and ground assault that rescued four hostages, who had been taken by Hamas during the October 7 assault that launched the war in Gaza. At least 210 Palestinians, including children, were killed, a Gaza health official said. It brings back online o

Biden, Macron agree on global affairs, express different views on Gaza war

US President Biden, who is currently on an official state visit to Paris, held meetings with his France counterpart

US making biggest push to halt Israel, Hamas fighting. Is it succeeding?

In Middle East capitals, at the United Nations, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the eight-month-old war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a cease-fire and release of more hostages. But one week into the U.S. pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the cease-fire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working, by moving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders toward a negotiating breakthrough. For Israel and Hamas, the U.S. diplomatic press has become a public test of whether either side is ready to stop fighting at least on any terms that fall short of their professed goals, whether it's the complete crushing of the militant group or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. For Biden, who describes the proposal as Israeli, it's the latest high-profile test of U.S. leadership in trying to convin

Blinken to push Gaza cease-fire proposal in eighth West Asia trip

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will push for a breakthrough on President Joe Biden's cease-fire proposal when he returns to the Middle East next week on his eighth diplomatic mission to the region since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began in October, the State Department said Friday. Blinken, who is currently in France accompanying Biden on a state visit timed to the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion during World War II, will fly from Paris to Cairo on Monday to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other officials before travelling to Israel, Jordan and Qatar, the department said. Blinken will then go to Italy to join Biden at the summit for the Group of Seven advanced economies. In all of his meetings, Blinken will emphasise the importance of Hamas accepting the proposal on the table, which is nearly identical to one Hamas endorsed last month and discuss how the cease-fire proposal would benefit both Israelis and Palestinians, State Department spokesman Matthew ..

Russia, China raise concerns with US over UN resolution on Gaza ceasefire

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire plan for the Gaza Strip a week ago that he described as an Israeli initiative

Israel's army targets 'Hamas compound' in school; media says 39 killed

Israel's military said Thursday it targeted what it called a Hamas compound inside of a school in the Gaza Strip, an attack Hamas-affiliated media there reported killed at least 39 people. Information about the strike in the Nuseirat area remained contradictory Thursday morning, and The Associated Press could not immediately independently confirm details about the strike. Hamas' al-Aqsa television broadcaster offered the death toll, without offering a source for the figures. The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck the school run by the United Nations agency providing aid to the Palestinians, known by the acronym UNRWA. The Israeli military claimed, without immediately offering evidence, that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad used the school as cover for their operations. Before the strike, a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike, including conducting aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information, the Isra

From Gaza to Ghaziabad - how 'All Eyes on Rafah' campaign draws scammers

Since the Israeli attack on Rafah happened, email security providers in India have observed a surge in phishing attempts, while consumer protection agencies have noted a rise in complaints about fake

Russian warships headed to Caribbean for drills as Ukraine tensions rise

The U.S. has been tracking Russian warships and aircraft that are expected to arrive in the Caribbean for a military exercise in the coming weeks, in a Russian show of force as tensions rise over Western military support for Ukraine, U.S. officials said Wednesday. The ships also are expected possibly to make port calls in Venezuela and Cuba, as Russia establishes a Western Hemisphere military presence that the senior Biden administration officials said was notable but not concerning. The exercise, which will be monitored by the U.S. military, will involve a handful of Russian ships and support vessels, the two officials said. It's not the first time Russia has sent its ships to the Caribbean. This exercise, however, is taking place as Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that Moscow could take asymmetrical steps elsewhere in the world in response to President Joe Biden's decision to allow Ukraine to use U.S.-provided weapons to strike inside Russia to protect Kharkiv, ...

Over 1 mn in Gaza could face highest level of starvation by mid-July: UN

United Nations agencies warned Wednesday that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue. The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a joint report that hunger is worsening because of heavy restrictions on humanitarian access and the collapse of the local food system in the nearly eight-month Israel-Hamas war. It says the situation remains dire in northern Gaza, which has been surrounded and largely isolated by Israeli troops for months. Israel recently opened land crossings in the north but they are only able to facilitate truck loads in the dozens each day for hundreds of thousands of people. Israel's incursion into Rafah has meanwhile severely disrupted aid operations in the south. Egypt has refused to open its Rafah crossing with Gaza since Israeli forces seized the Gaza side of it nearly a month ago, instead diverting aid to Israel's Kerem Shalom crossin