Page 35 - Gaza Conflict

South Africa urges UN's top court to order immediate cease-fire in Gaza

South Africa urged the United Nations' top court on Thursday to order a cease-fire in Gaza during hearings over emergency measures to halt Israel's military operation in the enclave's southern city of Rafah. It was the third time the International Court of Justice held hearings on the conflict in Gaza since South Africa filed proceedings in December at the court, based in The Hague in the Netherlands, accusing Israel of genocide. The country's ambassador to the Netherlands, Vusimuzi Madonsela, urged the panel of 15 international judges to order Israel to totally and unconditionally withdraw from the Gaza Strip. The court has already found that there is a real and imminent risk to the Palestinian people in Gaza by Israel's military operations. This may well be the last chance for the court to act, said Irish lawyer Blinne N Ghrlaigh, who is part of South Africa's legal team. Judges at the court have broad powers to order a cease-fire and other measures, although the court does not h

Israel Q1 economic growth rebounds 14.1%, lifted by shopping, building

The recovery in the January to March period was led by large increases in private spending and investment, both of which slid in the fourth quarter

US military completes Gaza Strip pier project, aid to flow soon amidst war

The US military finished installing a floating pier for the Gaza Strip on Thursday, with officials poised to begin ferrying badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave besieged over seven months of intense fighting in the Israel-Hamas war. The final, overnight construction sets up a complicated delivery process more than two months after US President Joe Biden ordered it to help Palestinians facing starvation as food and other supplies fail to make it in as Israel recently seized the key Rafah border crossing in its push on that southern city on the Egyptian border. Fraught with logistical, weather and security challenges, the maritime route is designed to bolster the amount of aid getting into the Gaza Strip, but it is not considered a substitute for far cheaper land-based deliveries that aid agencies say are much more sustainable. The boatloads of aid will be deposited at a port facility built by the Israelis just southwest of Gaza City and then distributed by aid groups. US ..

Israel forces destroy weapons workshop as Hamas tries to regroup in Gaza

This comes on the heels of Israel killing 15 terrorists in a Hamas command center located inside a UNRWA school

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim attacking US Navy destroyer, commercial ship

Yemen's Houthi rebels on Wednesday claimed targeting a U.S. Navy destroyer and a commercial ship in the Red Sea. However, the attack on the warship apparently happened nearly two days earlier and saw the vessel intercept the missile targeting it. The latest statement from the Houthis comes as their attacks on shipping, which have disrupted trade through a vital corridor leading onto the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, have slowed in recent weeks. Though the rebels have not acknowledged the slowdown, the U.S. military has suggested its airstrikes and interceptions of Houthi fire have disrupted their assaults and chewed into their weapon stockpiles. Recently, the Houthis have been claiming days-old attacks. Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the rebels targeted the USS Mason with missiles and launched an attack on a ship he identified as the Destiny. Multiple vessels have that name in shipping registries. The Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile ...

Fierce battle between Israel and Hamas-led militants in north, south Gaza

Gaza's Civil Emergency Service and health ministry said rescue teams have been unable to reach areas where the army was operating to respond to calls for help

UN launches probe into first international staff killed by strike in Rafah

The staffer, a retired Indian Army officer named Waibhav Anil Kale, was working with the UN Department of Safety and Security and was on route to the European Hospital in Rafah

UN mourns death of ex-Indian Army officer in Gaza, blames Israeli tank

The United Nations condoled and expressed apologies to India over the killing of a former Indian Army officer, who died in war-torn Rafah in Gaza when the vehicle he was travelling in was attacked by shots fired from what it believes was an Israeli tank. Colonel Waibhav Anil Kale, 46, who retired prematurely from the Indian Army in 2022, joined the world body as a Security Coordination Officer in the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) two months ago. He was killed, and another DSS staffer from Jordan was injured when their UN-marked vehicle was struck when they were travelling to the European Hospital in war-torn Rafah in Gaza on Monday morning. Kale, who had commanded the 11 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles in Kashmir, is the "first international casualty" for the world body since the Israel-Hamas conflict started last year. We also express our apologies and our condolences to the Government and people of India, Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio ...

Govt should strongly condemn killing of ex-Army officer in Gaza: Gokhale

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Wednesday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging that the government strongly condemn the killing of a former Indian Army officer in Gaza. Col Waibhav Anil Kale, 46, who took premature retirement from the Indian Army in 2022, had joined one of the UN agencies three weeks ago. He was killed in war-torn Rafah in Gaza on Monday morning, becoming the "first international casualty" for the world body since the Israel-Hamas conflict started last year. "It is shocking that a retired Indian Army colonel was killed by Israel in Gaza and the shameless Modi Govt hasn't uttered a single word," Gokhale said in a post on X, where he shared the letter written to the External Affairs Minister. Gokhale said the former Army officer was travelling in a clearly-marked UN vehicle when he was killed. "It is clear from reports that Col. Kale was killed when his convoy was attacked in a strike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). There is ...

Israeli tanks push deeper into Rafah despite allies warning against it

A US official who declined to be identified told Reuters that Israel promised not to make a major move in Rafah without advising Washington

Israel should be allowed to nuke Gaza like Hiroshima, Nagasaki: US senator

Lindsey Graham, a Republican Senator and a staunch supporter of Israel, criticised President Joe Biden for pausing the delivery of 3000 heavy bombs to Israel

US Secy of State Blinken criticises Israel's conduct in war in Gaza

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has delivered some of the Biden administration's strongest public criticism yet of Israel's conduct of the war in Gaza, saying Israeli tactics have meant a horrible loss of life of innocent civilians but failed to neutralise Hamas leaders and fighters and could drive a lasting insurgency. In a pair of TV interviews, Blinken underscored that the United States believes Israeli forces should get out of Gaza, but also is waiting to see credible plans from Israel for security and governance in the territory after the war. Hamas has reemerged in parts of Gaza, Blinken said, and that heavy action by Israeli forces in the southern city of Rafah risks leaving America's closest Mideast ally holding the bag on an enduring insurgency." He said the United States has worked with Arab countries and others for weeks on developing credible plans for security, for governance, for rebuilding' in Gaza, but we haven't seen that come from Israel. ... We need to see that,

As Israel pushes deeper into Rafah, Hamas regroups elsewhere in Gaza

This comes after the Israeli military ordered the immediate evacuation of several more neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah as the Israeli military steps up its operations in the southern Gazan city

Ceasefire in Gaza war possible 'tomorrow' if Hamas releases hostages: Biden

This comes after Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo, Egypt without a deal earlier this week

As IDF continues to advance towards Rafah, Hamas releases hostage video

Hamas released a video saying that Nadav Popplewell, who was taken hostage from the southern Israeli community of Kibbutz Nirim, died after being wounded in an Israeli strike in Gaza

To expand ops, Israel orders new evacuations in the S Gaza city of Rafah

Israel ordered new evacuations in Gaza's southern city of Rafah on Saturday as it prepared to expand its operation, saying it was also moving into an area in northern Gaza where Hamas has regrouped. Fighting is escalating across the enclave with heavy clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of Rafah, leaving the crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and forcing more than 110,000 people to flee north. Israel's move into Rafah has so far been short of the full-scale invasion that it has planned. The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah, which borders Egypt near the main aid entry points, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties. More than 1.4 million Palestinians half of Gaza's population have been sheltering in Rafah, most after fleeing Israel's offensives elsewhere. Army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, told Palestinians in Jabaliya and Beit Lahiya

If Israel is forced to stand alone, it will stand alone, says Netanyahu

Netanyahu spoke after President Joe Biden said the United States would not provide offensive weapons for Israel's long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah

India needs to have stable leadership amidst global turbulence: Jaishankar

The world will witness a "very, very stormy" churn because of conflicts, power shifts and sharpening competition in this decade, which makes it all the more important for India to have a stable and mature leadership, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said. In an exclusive interview to PTI late Thursday, Jaishankar painted a picture of the world radically different from the one we are living in now by the end of 2020s when asked to draw on his nearly 50 years of experience in diplomacy and politics to give an assessment of the global power balance. "Multiple conflicts, tensions, divides! With all these variables that I am putting to you, I am painting to you, actually, a very, very stormy international scene for the balance of the decade," said Jaishankar, a former ambassador to China and the United States, who was tapped for the political role by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019. Jaishankar especially referred to the declining influence of the United States, the conflict in

Rafah's three remaining hospitals will run out of fuel in 3 days, says WHO

The World Health Organization says it has only three days of fuel for its medical operations in southern Gaza, with shortages already forcing one of three remaining hospitals in the city of Rafah to shut down. The Rafah border crossing with Egypt has been closed since Israel's military took control of the Palestinian side early Tuesday, blocking the entry of desperately needed humanitarian aid. The U.N. says northern Gaza is already in a state of full-blown famine. Israel said it reopened Kerem Shalom crossing, the other main entry point for aid, on Wednesday. U.N. officials say no aid has entered Gaza, and there is no one to receive it on the Palestinian side because of ongoing fighting. The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory's population of 2.3 million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials. Th

Warning Israel, Biden says US won't supply weapons to attack Rafah

President Joe Biden said Wednesday that he would not supply offensive weapons that Israel could use to launch an all-out assault on Rafah the last major Hamas stronghold in Gaza over concern for the well-being of the more than 1 million civilians sheltering there. Biden, in an interview with CNN, said the U.S. was still committed to Israel's defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms, but that if Israel goes into Rafah, we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used. The U.S. has historically provided enormous amounts of military aid to Israel. That has only accelerated in the aftermath of Hamas' Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 in Israel and led to about 250 being taken captive by militants. Biden's comments and his decision last week to pause a shipment of heavy bombs to Israel are the most striking manifestations of the growing daylight between his administration and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.