Page 47 - Gaza Conflict

Israel focuses assault on southern Gaza amid concern over wider war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel, to continue "diplomatic consultations", a U.S. official said

Israel's ambassador to UN links Iran to Houthi attacks in Red Sea

The Houthis vowed in early December to target any Israel-bound ship in the Red Sea, regardless of its ownership

Strike kills 12 people in Southern Gaza area declared safe zone by Israel

An Israeli strike flattened a home on Thursday in an area of southern Gaza that the military had declared a safe zone as Israeli troops pressed their assault in the nearby city of Khan Younis. Palestinian hospital officials said the blast killed at least 12 people, almost all of them children. Israel's offensive has focused on Khan Younis, where the military said on Thursday it has uncovered tunnels used by Hamas and battled fighters from the militant group that attacked into southern Israel on October 7. Israel has vowed to continue its campaign in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Now an apparent Israeli strike that killed a top Hamas leader in Beirut has stirred fresh fears that the conflict could expand into other parts of the region. The killing of Sameh Arouri prompted warnings of retaliation from Hamas' ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. But there was no immediate escalation in the daily exchanges of rocket fire and shells between Hezbollah and the Israeli military over the t

US intel says Hamas used Gaza hospital in campaign against Israel: Report

The US is confident that Palestinian militant groups used Gaza's largest hospital to hold at least a few hostages seized during their bloody Oct. 7 attack and to house command infrastructure, an American intelligence assessment declassified Tuesday and shared by a U.S. official found. The assessment offers the firmest U.S. support for Israeli claims about the Shifa hospital complex, which was raided by Israeli forces in November in an operation decried by global humanitarian organizations and some members of President Joe Biden' s party. Yet the information released doesn't fully back some of Israel's most significant allegations that the hospital served as the central node for activities by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The U.S. official shared the assessment on the condition of anonymity. The U.S. Intelligence Community is confident in its judgment on this topic and has independently corroborated information on HAMAS and PIJ's use of the hospital complex for a variety of ...

US rejects Israel's remarks on resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza

He said that the kind of future the US seeks is that in future, no terror groups are able to threaten Israel and Hamas has no control of Gaza

UAE president, WHO chief discuss cooperation and health challenges in Gaza

The WHO Director-General congratulated the UAE president on the successful hosting of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) in the UAE at the end of last year

Top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri killed in Israeli drone strike in Beirut

An explosion in Beirut on Tuesday killed Saleh Arouri, a top official with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and three others, officials with Hamas and the Lebanese group Hezbollah said. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said the blast killed four people and was carried out by an Israeli drone. Israeli officials declined to comment. If Israel is behind the attack it could mark a major escalation in the Middle East conflict. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has vowed to retaliate against any Israeli targeting of Palestinian officials in Lebanon. Hamas official Bassem Naim confirmed to The Associated Press that Arouri was killed in the blast. A Hezbollah official speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations also said Arouri was killed. Arouri, one of the founders of Hamas' military wing, had headed the group's presence in the West Bank. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had threatened to kill him even before the Hamas-Israel war began on Octo

Israel shifts troops out of Gaza strip first time since war began

Thousands of Israeli soldiers are being shifted out of the Gaza Strip, the military said on Monday, in the first significant drawdown of troops since the war began as forces continued to bear down on the main city in the southern half of the enclave. The troop movement could signal that fighting is being scaled back in some areas of Gaza, particularly in the northern half where the military has said it is close to assuming operational control. Israel has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting. Word of the drawdown came ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region and after the Biden administration bypassed Congress for the second time this month to approve an emergency weapons sale to Israel. But fierce fighting continued in other areas of Gaza, especially the southern city Khan Younis and central areas of the territory. Israel has pledged to charge ahead until its war aims have been achieved,

Maersk pauses Red Sea sailings after Houthi attack on container ship

The attack was the latest by Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been targeting vessels in The Red Sea to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza

Israeli jets pound central Gaza as Netanyahu indicates longer war

A Red Crescent video published on Sunday showed the chaotic aftermath of strikes in central Gaza, as rescuers worked in the dark to carry an injured child from smoking rubble

Israel hits camps in central Gaza day after Biden approves new arms sales

Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday, as the Biden administration approved a new emergency weapons sale to Israel despite persistent international cease-fire calls over mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the enclave. Israel says it is determined to pursue its unprecedented air and ground offensive until it has dismantled Hamas, a goal viewed by some as unattainable because of the militant group's deep roots in Palestinian society. The United States has shielded Israel diplomatically and has continued to supply weapons. Israel argues that ending the war now would mean victory for Hamas, a stance shared by the Biden administration which at the same time urged Israel to do more to avoid harm to Palestinian civilians. The war, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel, has displaced some 85% of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million residents, sending swells of people seeking shelter in Israeli-designated safe are

Thousands of Palestinians stream into Rafah as Israel expands its offensive

The Israeli-Hamas war has already driven around 85% of Gaza's 2.3 million people from their homes, levelling the northern part of the territory and heightening fears about a similar fate for the south as Israel's air and ground offensive widened Friday. Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians have streamed into the town of Rafah in the southernmost end of Gaza in recent days, according to the United Nations, crowding into an already overwhelmed area of the embattled territory. More than 20,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and children, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants among the dead. About 1,200 people were killed after Hamas raided southern Israel on Oct 7, with around 240 people taken hostage. Currently: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill dozens of Palestinians, even in largely emptied north As Gaza war grinds on, tensions soar along Israel's

Turkey 'detains 32 IS militants, foils attack bid' on synagogues, churches

Turkish security forces have detained 32 people suspected of links to the Islamic State extremist group who were allegedly planning to carry out attacks on synagogues and churches as well as the Iraqi Embassy, Turkey's state-run news agency reported Friday. The suspects, including three alleged senior IS militants, were detained in raids carried out at dawn in nine provinces across Turkey, Anadolu Agency reported, citing unnamed security sources. They were detained in a joint operation by the country's intelligence agency and police, the agency said. The arrests come a week after police rounded up 304 suspected IS militants in simultaneous raids across Turkey in what appeared to be a security sweep leading up to the New Year festivities. The Islamic State group has carried out a string of deadly attacks in Turkey, including a shooting at an Istanbul night club on January 1, 2017, that killed 39 people during New Year celebrations.

Israel launches heavy strikes across central, south Gaza, toll crosses 21k

Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas to more areas where the military had told Palestinians to seek shelter earlier in the war. Residents reported heavy bombing in the built-up Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, in the southern city of Khan Younis and in the southern town of Rafah, areas where tens of thousands have sought refuge as much of northern Gaza was pounded to rubble. It was a night of hell. We haven't seen such bombing since the start of the war, said Rami Abu Mosab, speaking from the Bureij camp, where he has been sheltering since fleeing his home in northern Gaza. He said warplanes flew overhead and gunfire and explosions echoed from the eastern edge of the camp which, like others in Gaza, houses refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation and their descendants and now resembles other densely populated neighbourhoods. A home near Abu Mosab's shelter was hi

Oil prices slip as investors monitor Red Sea tensions triggered by Gaza war

Israeli forces pummelled central Gaza by land, sea and air on Wednesday after Israel's Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi told reporters on Tuesday that the Gaza war would go on "for many months"

Gaza ground offensive has expanded into urban refugee camps, says IDF

Israeli forces on Tuesday expanded their ground offensive into urban refugee camps in central Gaza after bombarding the crowded Palestinian communities and ordering residents to evacuate. Gaza's main telecom provider announced another complete interruption of services in the besieged territory. The military's announcement of the new battle zone threatens further destruction in a war that Israel says will last for many months as it vows to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its October 7 attack. Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, driving Palestinians into ever-smaller areas in search of refuge. The US said Israel's minister for strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, was meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan. Despite US calls for Israel to curb civilian casualties and international pressure for a cease-fire, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said

UN appoints former Dutch deputy premier as Gaza humanitarian coordinator

Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands' former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert, was appointed the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza, the United Nations chief announced on Tuesday. The announcement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres follows the Security Council's adoption of a resolution on Friday requesting him to expeditiously appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, where more than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water and medicine, Guterres said Kaag, who speaks fluent Arabic and five other languages, brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as in diplomacy to her new post. She is expected to start on January 8. She will facilitate, coordinate, monitor, and verify humanitarian relief consignments to Gaza, he said, adding that Kaag will also establish a UN mechanism to accelerate aid deliveries "through states which are not party to the conflict. Gaza's enti

Israel to give Intel $3.2 bn grant for new $25 bn chip plant in south

This is the largest investment ever by a company in Israel. The news comes as Israel remains locked in a war with Palestinian militant group Hamas in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel

Gaza war far from over: Netanyahu reaffirms; Israel's budget deficit swells

Israel's war with Hamas in Gaza will likely cost it at least another 50 billion shekels ($14 billion) in 2024 and result in a near-tripling of its budget deficit, the Finance Ministry said on Monday

War exacts very heavy price from us, but we have no choice: Netanyahu

Fifteen Israeli soldiers have been killed in combat in Gaza over the weekend, the Israeli military said on Sunday, while tentative efforts continued on a deal for another exchange of hostages for Palestinians held by Israel. As Christmas Eve fell, smoke still rose over Gaza from the fighting, while Bethlehem in the West Bank was hushed, its holiday celebrations called off. The mounting death toll among Israeli troops 154 since the ground offensive began could erode public support for the war, which was sparked when Hamas-led militants stormed communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 and taking 240 hostage. The war has devastated parts of Gaza, killed roughly 20,400 Palestinians and displaced almost all of the besieged territory's 2.3 million people. The Health Ministry in Gaza said 166 people were killed in the coastal enclave over the past day. Israelis still largely stand behind the country's stated goals of crushing Hamas' governing and military capabilities and