Page 4 - Gaza Conflict

PM Modi welcomes Trump's leadership as Gaza peace efforts show progress

India welcomes US President Donald Trump's leadership as peace efforts in Gaza make decisive progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday. Modi referred to the indications of the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas and said it marks a significant step forward in efforts to restore peace in the region. He said on X, "India will continue to strongly support all efforts towards a durable and just peace." Trump has ordered Israel to stop bombing the Gaza Strip after Hamas said it had accepted some elements of his plan to end the nearly two-year war and return all the remaining hostages taken in the October 7, 2023, attack. Hamas said it was willing to release the hostages and hand over power to other Palestinians, but that other aspects of the plan require further consultations among Palestinians.

Israel ready to implement Trump's Gaza peace plan, says Netanyahu | Updates

Israel said it is ready to start the first step of Trump's Gaza peace plan, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and discuss handing Gaza's control to a Palestinian-led body

Hamas accepts some elements of Gaza peace plan after Trump issues ultimatum

Hamas said Friday that it has accepted some elements of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war in the Gaza Strip, including giving up power and releasing all remaining hostages, but that others require further consultations among Palestinians. The statement came hours after Trump said that Hamas must agree to the deal by Sunday evening, threatening an even greater military onslaught nearly two years into the war sparked by the October 7 attack into Israel. It was unclear how the US and Israel would respond to partial acceptance. Hamas said it was willing to release hostages according to the plan's formula, likely referring to the release of Palestinian prisoners. It also reiterated its longstanding openness to handing power over to a politically independent Palestinian body. But it said aspects of the proposal touching on the future of the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rights should be decided on the basis of a unanimous Palestinian stance reached with other factions and based

Israeli strikes kill 57 in Gaza as Hamas considers Trump's plan to end war

Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 57 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, health officials said Thursday, as Hamas was still considering its response to US President Donald Trump's proposal for ending the nearly two-year war. The plan requires Hamas to return all 48 hostages about 20 of them thought by Israel to be alive give up power and disarm in return for the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and an end to fighting. However, the proposal, which has been accepted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sets no path to Palestinian statehood. Palestinians long for the war to end but many believe the plan favours Israel, and a Hamas official told The Associated Press that some elements were unacceptable, without elaborating. Qatar and Egypt, two key mediators, said it requires more negotiations on certain elements. Israel intercepts activist aid flotilla At least 29 people were killed by Israeli fire in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital, which ...

Activists say Israeli navy has begun intercepting Gaza-bound aid flotilla

Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward Gaza said late Wednesday that the Israeli navy has begun intercepting their vessels as they approach the besieged Palestinian territory. The Global Sumud Flotilla, with Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, and several European lawmakers aboard, consists of nearly 50 boats and 500 activists and is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid. It has remained undeterred in its mission to break the Israeli blockade of the coastal strip and reach Palestinians. Greg Stoker, an American veteran aboard one of the boats in the flotilla, said around a dozen naval vessels with their transponders off had approached it. They are currently hailing our vessels, telling us to turn off our engines and await further instructions or our boats will be seized and we will face the consequences," he said in a shaky video while wearing a red life jacket. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on X that the navy had reached out to

Israeli strikes kill 32 in Gaza as Netanyahu ignores demands for ceasefire

Israeli strikes killed at least 32 people across Gaza overnight, health officials said, as international pressure grows for a ceasefire but Israel's leader remains defiant about continuing the war. Strikes in central and northern Gaza killed people in their homes in the early hours of Saturday morning, including nine from the same family in a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, according to health staff at the Al-Awda hospital where the bodies were brought. The attacks came hours after a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told fellow world leaders at the UN General Assembly on Friday that his nation must finish the job against Hamas in Gaza. Netanyahu's words, aimed as much at his increasingly divided domestic audience as the global one, began after dozens of delegates from multiple nations walked out of the UN General Assembly hall en masse Friday morning as he began speaking. International pressure on Israel to end the war is increasing, as is Israel's isolation, w

Will not allow Israel to annex West Bank, says Trump amid Arab concerns

President Donald Trump has said that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. "There's been enough," Trump, apparently referring to Israel, told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday while signing executive orders unrelated to Middle East policy. He added, "It's time to stop now." Trump has long bragged about his close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the president has faced pressure from Arab leaders, who have publicly expressed concerns about the Israeli military acting to annex more territory. Unlike Gaza, where Israel's war with Hamas continues, the West Bank is governed by the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli PM Netanyahu to address UN as pressure mounts over Gaza conflict

Facing international isolation, accusations of war crimes and growing pressure to end a conflict he has continued to escalate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gets his chance to push back Friday on the international community's biggest platform. Netanyahu's annual speech to the UN General Assembly is always closely watched, often protested, reliably emphatic and sometimes a venue for dramatic allegations. But this time, the stakes are higher than ever for the Israeli leader. In recent days, Australia, Canada, France, the United Kingdom and others announced their recognition of an independent Palestinian state. The European Union is considering tariffs and sanctions on Israel. The assembly this month passed a nonbinding resolution urging Israel to commit to an independent Palestinian nation, which Netanyahu has said is a non-starter. The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant accusing Netanyahu of crimes against humanity, which he denies. And the UN's ..

Slovenia bans Israeli PM Netanyahu from entering over ICC arrest warrant

Slovenia on Thursday said it was banning Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from entering the European Union country to underscore its defence of international law. The decision was linked to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against the Israeli prime minister, Foreign Ministry official Neva Grasic said, according to the official STA news agency. The EU nation of some 2 million people, which recognised a Palestinian state last year, has been a vocal critic of Israeli actions in Gaza and Thursday's move against Netanyahu was apparently designed to underscore the country's policies. Slovenia already had barred Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country and imposed an arms embargo on Israel. All countries that are bound by the international court, including Slovenia, must not recognise the situation resulting from Israel's illegal presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, an

Thousands protest in Italy for Gaza; Meloni condemns violence as 'shameful'

What began as peaceful marches in several cities of Italy quickly spiralled into violent confrontations between the demonstrators and police, leaving at least 60 police officers injured

Tel Aviv's isolation: A two-state solution remains the global consensus

This represents a major shift in attitudes in the West, and is a reflection of the increasing isolation on the international stage being endured by Tel Aviv following its continuing war on Gaza Strip

Israeli army orders evacuation of Gaza City hospital amid UNGA meetings

Israeli forces showed no signs of relenting on their new ground offensive in Gaza City on Monday as world leaders gathered in New York for the United Nations General Assembly and more countries prepared to join the surge of nations recognising a Palestinian state. Hundreds of thousands have remained in the city, the territory's largest and already in ruins from nearly two years of war and struggling with famine. The Israeli military ordered the evacuation on Monday of the Jordanian Hospital, a key health clinic, a Palestinian health official said. The latest Israeli operation, which started last Tuesday, further escalates a conflict that has roiled the Middle East and likely pushes any ceasefire farther out of reach. The Israeli military, which says it wants to destroy Hamas' military infrastructure, hasn't given a timeline for the offensive, but there were indications it could take months. Many have been attempting to relocate from the city, where 1 million people once lived, to th

Trump's muted Russia response fuels fears of deeper US disengagement

After months of proposing both ideas to solve or intermediate some of the world's most intractable conflicts, Trump has largely withdrawn from diplomacy in recent weeks

Israel's long war in Gaza, mass call ups strain high-tech economy

Israel is preparing for a long war, endangering the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many of whom have faced displacement several times over

US vetoes UNSC resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire, hostage release

The United States once again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution Thursday that had demanded for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages after saying that the effort did not go far enough in condemning Hamas. All 14 other members of the United Nations' most powerful body voted in favor of the resolution, which described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as catastrophic and called on Israel to lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid to the 2.1 million Palestinians in the territory. The outcome further highlights US and Israeli isolation on the world stage regarding the nearly two-year war in Gaza. The vote came just days ahead of the annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly, where Gaza will be a major topic and where major US allies are expected to recognise an independent Palestinian state. It is a largely symbolic move that is vehemently opposed by Israel and the US, dividing the Trump administration from close allies, .

Israeli impunity in Gaza: US support counters growing global censure

The irony of this flurry of international condemnation, including from India and the Abraham Accord signatories, is that it has not deterred Israel or its sponsor, the US

Israel launches expanded operation in Gaza City, urges residents to leave

After a night of heavy airstrikes, the Israeli military announced Tuesday that its expanded operation in Gaza City to destroy Hamas' military infrastructure has begun and warned residents to move south. The announcement by Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee followed Defence Minister Israel Kataz's statement that Gaza is burning and further escalated the Israel-Hamas war as any potential ceasefire feels even further out of reach despite weeks of diplomacy. Also Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio left Israel and arrived in the energy-rich nation of Qatar, where he planned to meet with its ruling emir as the nation is still incensed over Israel's strike last week that killed five Hamas members and a local security official. While Arab and Muslim nations denounced the strike at a summit Monday, they stopped short of any major action targeting Israel, highlighting the challenge of diplomatically pressuring any change in Israel's conduct in the grinding Israel-Hamas war.

'Gaza is burning', says Israeli defence minister after overnight strikes

Israel's defence minister said Tuesday that Gaza is burning after heavy strikes overnight targeted Gaza City. Defence Minister Israel Katz's remarks come as Israel has been planning a new offensive targeting Gaza City. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking to journalists while leaving Israel for Qatar, suggested the offensive had begun. The Israelis have begun to take operations there. So we think we have a very short window of time in which a deal can happen, Rubio said. We don't have months anymore, and we probably have days and maybe a few weeks.

UN chief calls for stronger peace efforts amid rising global conflicts

Pursuing the cause of peace is 'the beating heart' of the Organisation, 'but today, peace is under siege,' Guterres said

Spain summons Israeli envoy over Netanyahu office remarks amid Gaza war row

Spain summoned Israel's acting ambassador in Madrid Friday in response to comments made by the Israeli Prime Minister's office that accused the European nation's prime minister of threatening Israel. Spanish Foreign Minister Jos Manuel Albares called in Dana Erlich, Israel's charge d'affaires in Spain and the highest-ranking diplomat in the country to categorically reject the false and slanderous statements from the Israeli Prime Minister's office, an official at Spain's Foreign Ministry said. The Foreign Ministry official was not authorized to speak publicly and declined to be named. It's the latest development in an ongoing diplomatic tit-for-tat between the two countries that ensued after Spain's prime minister announced measures Monday to pressure Israel to end the Gaza war. In a post Thursday on social platform X, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Snchez had made a blatant genocidal threat," in reference to comments made by th