Page 40 - Gaza Conflict

Israel intensifies air strikes on Hamas, operations in hospital compound

Targets included tunnel shafts, terror infrastructure, and a launching area from where rockets were fired at the Israeli city of Sderot

Trump urges Israel to 'finish up' Gaza offensive amid fading global support

Former US President Donald Trump said he would have responded the same way as Israel did after the October 7 attack by Hamas but urged the country to "finish up" its offensive in Gaza and "get this over with", warning about international support fading. "You have to finish up your war. You have to finish it up. You've got to get it done," he said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom. "We've got to get to peace. You can't have this going on, and I will say Israel has to be very careful because you are losing a lot of the world. You are losing a lot of support." Trump, who earlier this month became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee, brought up global criticism of Israel's offensive even as he has repeatedly attacked President Joe Biden's handling of the conflict. According to the newspaper's transcript of the interview, Trump said "Israel made a very big mistake" in releasing photos and videos of its offensive in Gaza, commenting the country's public image is "

UN Security Council set to vote on resolution demanding Ramadan cease-fire

The UN Security Council is set to vote on a resolution demanding a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, but the United States warned the measure could hurt negotiations to halt Israeli-Hamas hostilities. The resolution, put forward by the 10 elected council members, is backed by Russia and China, who vetoed a US-sponsored resolution Friday that supported an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The 22-nation Arab Group at the UN issued a statement Friday night appealing to all 15 council members to act with unity and urgency" and vote for the resolution "to halt the bloodshed, preserve human lives and avert further human suffering and destruction. It is long past time for a cease-fire," the Arab Group said. Ramadan began March 10 and ends April 9. The council scheduled a vote on the resolution Saturday morning (10 am EDT). Many members are hoping that the UN's most powerful body, which is charged with maintaining ...

Netanyahu rebuffs US plea to halt Rafah offensive, tensions escalate

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday once again left the Middle East empty-handed as Israel's prime minister rejected American appeals to call off a promised ground invasion of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which is overflowing with displaced civilians. The tough message from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sets the stage for potentially difficult talks next week in Washington between top U.S. officials and a high-level Israeli delegation. Netanyahu said Israel is ready to do it alone in Rafah if necessary. Despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide crucial military aid and diplomatic support, even as Israel's war against Hamas has killed more than 32,000 people in Gaza and led to a worsening humanitarian crisis. Israel says Rafah is the last remaining stronghold of Hamas and says the militant group's forces there must be defeated for Israel to meet its war objectives. Israel vowed to destroy Hamas following the group's Oct. 7 attack

Russia and China veto US's immediate Gaza ceasefire resolution at UNSC

The vote in the 15-member Security Council was 11 members in favour, three against and one abstention

UN to vote US resolution declaring immediate cease-fire in Gaza imperative

The United Nations Security Council is set to vote on a United States-sponsored resolution declaring that an immediate and sustained cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is imperative to protect civilians and enable humanitarian aid to be delivered to more than 2 million hungry Palestinians. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said she was optimistic that the new, tougher draft resolution would be approved Friday by the 15-member council. The draft being put to a vote determines which is a council order the imperative of an immediate and sustained cease-fire, with no direct link to the release of hostages taken during Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel, which was in the previous draft. But it would unequivocally support diplomatic efforts to secure such a cease-fire in connection with the release of all remaining hostages. Russia's deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyansky said Moscow will not be satisfied with anything that doesn't call for an immediate cease-fire, saying it's

Israeli assault on Gaza's Rafah not needed to defeat Hamas, says Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday a major Israeli ground assault on the southern Gaza town of Rafah would be a mistake and unnecessary to defeating Hamas, underscoring the further souring of relations between the United States and Israel. Blinken, on his sixth urgent Mideast mission since the war began, spoke after huddling with top Arab diplomats in Cairo for discussions over efforts for a cease-fire and over ideas for Gaza's post-conflict future. He said an immediate, sustained ceasefire with the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was urgently needed and that gaps were narrowing in indirect negotiations that US, Egypt and Qatar have spent weeks mediating. Blinken heads to Israel on Friday to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war cabinet. The growing disagreements between Netanyahu and President Joe Biden over the prosecution of the war will likely overshadow the talks particularly over Netanyahu's determination to launch a ground assault on ..

US has unveiled draft UNSC resolution for immediate Gaza ceasefire: Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it was imperative that protecting civilians 'who are in harm's way' be treated as a priority

Double standards

Weapons to allies and aid to adversaries is self-defeating

Israel launches raid on Gaza hospital, alleges presence of Hamas' militants

Israeli forces launched another raid on the Gaza Strip's largest hospital early Monday, saying Hamas militants had regrouped there and had fired on them from inside the compound, where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people were sheltering. The army last raided Shifa Hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command centre within and beneath the facility. The military revealed a tunnel leading to a bunker, as well as weapons it said were found inside the hospital, but the evidence fell short of the earlier claims, and critics accused the army of recklessly endangering the lives of civilians. People sheltering in the hospital said Israeli forces backed by tanks and artillery had surrounded the medical complex early Monday and that snipers were shooting at people inside. They said the army raided a number of buildings and detained dozens of people. We're trapped inside, said Abdel-Hady Sayed, who has been sheltering in the medical facility f

Netanyahu says Israel won't stop until 'total victory' is achieved

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed on Sunday against growing criticism from the United States against his leadership amid the devasting war with Hamas, saying the pressure won't stop Israel from achieving total victory. In recent days, top officials from the US, Israel's staunchest ally which has provided key military and diplomatic support during the war, have publicly voiced their frustration with Netanyahu and his government. US President Joe Biden accused Netanyahu of hurting Israel because of the huge civilian death toll in Gaza. US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the country and a strong Israel supporter, then called on Israel to hold a new election, saying Netanyahu had lost his way. Biden then expressed support for what he called Schumer's good speech. The US also has expressed concerns about a planned Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering,

Ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid approaches Gaza through new sea route

The ship, manned by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday towing a barge laden with food sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres

Australia to restore funding for UNRWA, pledges to increase Gaza aid

Australia will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians, weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations that some of its Gaza-based staff participated in the Oct. 7 attack. The Australian government also pledged Friday to increase aid for the besieged enclave, with Foreign Minister Penny Wong expressing horror at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Australia's move follows Sweden, the European Commission and Canada in reinstating funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which had seen its international funding frozen while the allegations were investigated. The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization, Wong told reporters Friday in Adelaide while she announced the aid package. "(We have) been working with a group of donor countries and with UNRWA on the shared ...

Houthis may have a hypersonic missile, could raise stakes in Red Sea crisis

Yemen's Houthi rebels claim to have a new, hypersonic missile in their arsenal, Russia's state media reported on Thursday, potentially raising the stakes in their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways against the backdrop of Israel's war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The report by the state-run RIA Novosti news agency cited an unidentified official but provided no evidence for the claim. It comes as Moscow maintains an aggressively counter-Western foreign policy amid its grinding war on Ukraine. However, the Houthis have for weeks hinted about surprises they plan for the battles at sea to counter the United States and its allies, which have so far been able to down any missile or bomb-carrying drone that comes near their warships in Mideast waters. On Thursday, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the Houthis' secretive supreme leader, said the rebels will start hitting ships heading toward the Cape of Good Hope in Africa's southern tip. Until now, the rebels have largely .

Gaza war, Red Sea attacks may push Yemen back into war, says UN envoy

The longer the war in Gaza goes on and Yemen's Houthi rebels keep attacking ships in the Red Sea the greater the risk that Yemen could be propelled back into war, the UN special envoy for the poorest Arab nation warned on Thursday. Hans Grundberg told the UN Security Council it has been impossible to shield his promising efforts to restore peace to Yemen because the reality is, what happens regionally impacts Yemen and what happens in Yemen can impact the region. Since November, the Iranian-backed Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea to demand a cease-fire in Israel's offensive in Gaza. It began after Gaza's Hamas rulers launched a surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed about 1,200 people and led to about 250 others being taken captive. Israel's ongoing military operation has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The Houthi attacks targeting vessels since November, however, have increasingly had little or no connecti

Palestinian Prez appoints ex-top govt official Mohammad Mustafa as new PM

Mohammad Mustafa (69) will have several weeks to appoint his cabinet. During the process, outgoing Palestinian PM Mohammed Shtayyeh will remain at the helm

UK govt notifies stricter, 'more precise' definition of extremism

The UK government on Thursday issued a new "more precise" definition of extremism in response to increased threats since the October 2023 Hamas terror attacks in Israel and to protect liberal democratic principles against extreme right-wing and Islamist extremists. Extremism in the UK is now defined as the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or undermine, overturn or replace the UK's system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in the first two categories. The previous definition, introduced in 2011 under the government's Prevent strategy, defined extremism as "vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and belief". UK Levelling Up and

Ahead of anticipated offensive, Israel to direct Palestinians out of Rafah

The Israeli military said Wednesday it plans to direct a significant portion of the 1.4 million displaced Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip's southernmost town of Rafah toward humanitarian islands in the centre of the territory ahead of its planned offensive in the area. The fate of the people in Rafah has been a major area of concern of Israel's allies including the United States and humanitarian groups, worried an offensive in the region densely crowded with so many displaced people would be a catastrophe. Rafah is also Gaza's main entry point for desperately needed aid. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a Rafah offensive is crucial to achieve Israel's stated aim of destroying Hamas following the militants' Oct 7 attack in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 taken hostage and brought into Gaza. Israel's invasion of Gaza has killed more than 31,000, according to Gaza health officials, left much of the enclave in ruins and ...

Despite war, pandemic, global trade growth likely to accelerate in 2024

Globalisation reached a record high in 2022 and stayed nearly as high in 2023, despite various global shocks over the past decade, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, and the USChina trade conflict, a report said on Wednesday. The "New DHL Global Connectedness Report 2024" by DHL and New York University's Stern School of Business, released here, also said that the share of global output traded internationally was back to a record high level in 2022. After a slowdown in 2023, trade growth is forecast to accelerate in 2024, it said. Trade growth played a crucial role in boosting connectedness. The report tracks how flows of trade, capital, information, and people move around the world and measure the globalisation of 181 countries and territories. The globalisation of information flows has notably surged over the past two decades, even though the latest data show a slowdown in their growth, partly due to less research collaboration between the US and ...

Aid ship sets sail from Cyprus to Gaza as 5 months into war, hunger worsens

An aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food set sail Tuesday from Cyprus to Gaza, the international charity behind the effort said. The shipment is a test for the opening of a sea corridor to supply aid to the territory, where starvation is spreading five months into the Israel-Hamas war. World Food Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef Jos Andrs, posted on the X social media platform that a ship set sail on Tuesday. Associated Press live footage showed it being towed out of a harbor in the port city of Larnaca. The United States has separately announced plans to construct a sea bridge near Gaza in order to deliver aid, but it will likely be several weeks before it is operational. The 5-month-old war triggered by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians and driven some 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes. The U.N. says a quarter of the population is starving. The attack that sparked the war killed some 1,200 people, and militants