Page 44 - Gaza Conflict

Israel's evacuation covers 67% of Gaza, leaves Palestinians crammed

Israel's evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip now cover two-thirds of the territory, or 246 square kilometers (95 square miles), United Nations humanitarian monitors said Tuesday. More than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people is now crammed into the town of Rafah on the border with Egypt and surrounding areas, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the known Palestinian death toll is at 27,478 people after nearly four months of war. A quarter of Gaza's residents are now starving and 85% of the population has been driven from their homes, with hundreds of thousands crammed in makeshift tent camps. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shortly after arriving in the kingdom Monday. It's Blinken's fifth visit to the Mideast since the war in Gaza broke out on Oct. 7, when Hamas stormed into southern Israel. The assault killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilian

Blinken heads to Middle East to hold negotiations on hostages, Gaza aid

Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank from February 4-8. It is his fifth trip to the region since the Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7

Half of US adults say Israel has gone too far in war in Gaza: Poll

Half of U.S. adults say Israel's 15-week-old military campaign in Gaza has gone too far, a finding driven mainly by growing disapproval among Republicans and political independents, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Broadly, the poll shows support for Israel and the Biden administration's handling of the situation ebbing slightly further across the board. The poll shows 31% of U.S. adults approve of Biden's handling of the conflict, including just 46% of Democrats. That's as an earlier spike in support for Israel following the Hamas attacks Oct. 7 sags. Melissa Morales, a 36-year-old political independent in Runnemede, New Jersey, says she finds herself watching videos and news from Gaza daily. Images of Palestinian children wounded, orphaned or unhoused by the fighting in Gaza make her mind go to her own 3-year-old boy. I just can't even imagine, like, my son roaming the streets, wanting to be safe. Wanting his mom. Or just .

Prez Biden issues order targeting violent Israeli settlers in West Bank

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order addressing the issue of violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, a move aimed at restoring stability in the region, CNN reported

US strikes around 10 unmanned drones in Yemen on verge of launch: Official

The Houthis, earlier on Wednesday, said their naval forces carried out an operation targeting an "American merchant ship" in the Gulf of Aden hours after firing missiles at US Navy destroyer Gravely

Gaza's economy post war could take decades to recover, says UN trade body

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the conflict had precipitated a 24% contraction in Gaza's GDP (gross domestic product) and a 26.1% drop in GDP per capita for all of 2023

IDF confirms channelling large volumes of water in suspected Hamas tunnels

"This is a significant tool in combating the threat of Hamas' underground terrorist infrastructure," it also said

Israel's PM Netanyahu rejects 2 key Hamas demands for any cease-fire

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected two key demands Hamas has made during indirect cease-fire talks, saying Israel will not withdraw from the Gaza Strip or release thousands of jailed militants. During an event Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, Netanyahu again vowed that the war would not end without Israel's absolute victory over Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli forces working undercover killed three Palestinian militants in a raid on a hospital in the West Bank, where violence has surged since the outbreak of the war in Gaza. The Israeli military said forces entered the Ibn Sina hospital in the northern city of Jenin early Tuesday and shot the three men, whom Hamas claimed as members. The military said the men were using the hospital as a hideout and that at least one was planning an attack. The Palestinian Health Ministry said the Israeli forces opened fire inside the hospital's wards and called on the international community to stop Israeli operations in ...

'Good progress' in talks on freeing hostages and Gaza ceasefire: Qatari PM

According to Al Thani, Hamas needs to reach "to a place where they engage positively and constructively in the process"

UN court misrepresented my comments in genocide ruling: Israel's president

Israel's president on Sunday accused the UN world court of misrepresenting his words in a ruling that ordered Israel to take steps to protect Palestinians and prevent a genocide in the Gaza Strip. The court's ruling on Friday cited a series of statements made by Israeli leaders as evidence of incitement and dehumanizing language against Palestinians. They included comments by President Isaac Herzog made just days after the October 7 Hamas cross-border attack that triggered Israel's war against the Islamic militant group. Hamas militants killed around 1,200 people in that attack and took about 250 others hostage. The Israeli offensive has left more than 26,000 Palestinians dead, displaced more than 80 per cent of Gaza's inhabitants and led to a humanitarian crisis in the territory. Talking about Gaza's Palestinians at an October 12 news conference, Herzog said that an entire nation was responsible for the massacre, the report by the International Court of Justice noted. But Herzog s

American-led negotiators close in on Gaza agreement to halt fighting

"The abhorrent alleged acts of these staff members must have consequences," Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Sunday, referring to the UN Relief and Works Agency

Netanyahu defiant after UN court ruling, says aiming for 'complete victory'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday pushed back after an International Court of Justice ruling to limit death and destruction in the military's Gaza offensive, declaring that we decide and act according to what is required for our security and vowing to press on until complete victory. Witnesses said three Palestinians were killed earlier Saturday in an airstrike that Israel's military said was targeting a Hamas commander in southern Gaza. Israel's military is under increasing scrutiny now that the top United Nations court has asked Israel for a compliance report in a month. The court's binding ruling on Friday stopped short of ordering a cease-fire, but its orders were in part a rebuke of Israel's conduct in its nearly 4-month war against Gaza's Hamas rulers. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, the main organization aiding Gaza's population amid the humanitarian disaster, saw more countries suspend its funding following allegations that a number of Gaza staf

United Nations fires Gaza staff over claims they joined Hamas attack

A vast majority of UNRWA's 30,000 staff is Palestinian, with 13,000 of those in Gaza. The US State Department said in a statement Friday that 12 UNRWA staff had been accused of links to the attacks

PM Modi, Prez Macron express 'grave concerns' over Red Sea conflict

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed "grave concerns" at the possibility of further expansion of the conflict in the Middle-East, including in the Red Sea. A joint statement issued late on Friday night said the two leaders called for upholding the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and underlined the need for respecting the international law of the sea. Modi and Macron held wide-ranging talks at a luxury palace on Thursday. The French President was the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in Delhi. The two leaders expressed "grave concern at the possibility of further expansion of the conflict in the region, including in the Red Sea", which already resulted a significant economic impact, the statement said. The Houthi militants have been attacking merchant vessels in the Red Sea since November, apparently in response to Israel's military offensive in Gaza. "They (Modi and Macron) recalled the utmost importance of upholding freedom o

Israel must take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, says ICJ

South Africa brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this month, asking it to grant emergency measures to halt the fighting, which has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians

Israel's El Al airline suspends South Africa route over World Court case

'Israelis don't want to fly to South Africa,' said an El Al spokesperson. "They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty... We understand it's the situation because it was different before

UN court set to issue ruling in South Africa's genocide case against Israel

Israel is set to hear on Friday whether the United Nations' top court will order it to end its military offensive in Gaza in a provisional ruling while the panel hears a case filed by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide. The International Court of Justice's president, Joan E. Donoghue, will read out the highly anticipated decision taken by a panel of 17 judges. The ruling comes at an early stage in South Africa's case alleging that Israel's military action in its war with Hamas in Gaza amounts to genocide. Israel vehemently rejects the accusation and has asked the court to throw out the case. South Africa has asked the judges as a matter of extreme urgency to impose so-called provisional measures to protect Palestinians in Gaza while the case proceeds slowly through the court, a process likely to take years. Top of the South African list is a request for the court to order Israel to immediately suspend its military operations in and against Gaza. Israeli government spokesper

Gaza blames Israeli troops for deadly shooting as crowd waited for aid

Gaza's Health Ministry and witnesses said Israeli troops opened fire as a crowd of Palestinians gathered for humanitarian aid in Gaza City on Thursday, killing at least 20 and wounding dozens. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports. The Associated Press could not independently confirm the details of what happened. Witnesses and health officials said the shooting took place at a roundabout on Gaza City's southern edge, where a large crowd had gathered for distribution of food. Footage posted online and confirmed to have been taken on the main road near the roundabout showed hundreds of people fleeing, some carrying boxes of aid, as fire rang out in the background. Men loaded wounded Palestinians onto horse and donkey carts that took off charging down the avenue. At Shifa Hospital, where casualties were treated, Mohammad al-Reafi lay on the floor, his bloodied leg bandaged, as medics worked on other wounded around them. He said Israeli troops fired into the crowd.

Israel instructs Northern farmers to be prepared for expansion of war

People are also instructed to check the functioning of generators, to increase food stocks and to perform any additional action they think is right in order

ICJ verdict looms: What if interim ruling goes against Israel on January 26

In a pivotal development, the International Court of Justice is set to deliver its highly awaited verdict on January 26 in response to South Africa's plea for an interim ruling against Israel