Page 7 - Gaza Conflict

Gaza's children have missed two years of school, truce won't undo damage

Two years ago, Sarah Qanan was a star high school student preparing for final exams and dreaming of becoming a doctor. Today, the 18-year-old lives in a sweltering tent in the Gaza Strip and says she is just trying to stay alive. She's part of a generation of Palestinians from grade school through university who have had virtually no access to education in the territory since the war began in October 2023. Classes were suspended that month and schools were transformed into crowded shelters as hundreds of thousands fled their homes at the start of Israel's campaign of retaliation after Hamas Oct 7, 2023, attack. The closure of schools has removed a key social outlet for young people as they grapple with war, hunger and displacement. For younger children, it has meant missing out on basic skills like reading and simple arithmetic. For older students, advanced subjects, graduation exams and college applications have all been put on hold. Even if negotiations lead to another ceasefire,

Israel-backed aid organisation says 20 killed at distribution site in Gaza

An Israeli-backed American organisation that runs an aid programme in the Gaza Strip said Wednesday 20 Palestinians were killed near a distribution site. This comes as Israeli strikes killed 22 others, including 11 children, according to hospital officials. The Gaza Humanitarian Fund said 19 people were trampled in a stampede and one person was fatally stabbed in the violence near a distribution hub in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The group, which rarely acknowledges trouble at its distribution sites, accused Hamas of fomenting panic and spreading misinformation that led to the violence, though it provided no evidence to support the claim.

Netanyahu coalition rattled as ultra-Orthodox party plans exit over new law

An Israeli ultra-Orthodox party that has been a key governing partner of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said early Tuesday it was leaving the coalition government, threatening to destabilise the Israeli leader's rule at a pivotal time in the war in Gaza. United Torah Judaism's two factions said they were bolting the government over disagreements surrounding a bill that would codify broad military draft exemptions for their constituents, many of whom study Jewish texts instead of enlisting in the military. The issue has long divided Jewish Israelis, most of whom are required to enlist, a rift that has only widened since the war in Gaza began and demands on military manpower grew. The departure of a party that has long served as a kingmaker in Israeli politics doesn't immediately threaten Netanyahu's rule. But, once it comes into effect within 48 hours, it will leave the Israeli leader with a slim majority in a government that could now more heavily rely on the whims of two far-rig

BBC Gaza film narrated by Hamas official's son breached guidelines: Review

Britain's media regulator said Monday it will investigate a BBC documentary about children's lives in Gaza, after a review concluded that the narrator's father has Hamas links and the programme therefore breached editorial guidelines on accuracy. The broadcaster removed the programme, Gaza: How To Survive A Warzone, from its streaming service in February after it emerged that the 13-year-old narrator, Abdullah, is the son of Ayman Alyazouri, who has worked as Hamas's deputy minister of agriculture. Ofcom, the media regulator, said that it was launching an investigation under rules that state factual programmes must not materially mislead the audience. That came after a review by the broadcaster found that the independent production company that made the programme didn't share the background information regarding the narrator's father with the BBC. It said that the production company, Hoyo Films, bears most responsibility for the failure, though it didn't intentionally mislead the ..

Israeli strikes kill 31 in Gaza as UN agencies warn of fuel crisis

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight killed at least 31 people, according to local hospitals, as UN agencies warned that critical fuel shortages put hospitals and other critical infrastructure at risk. The latest attacks came after US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held two days of talks last week that ended with no sign of a breakthrough in negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage release. Twelve people were killed by strikes in southern Gaza, including three who were waiting at an aid distribution point on Monday, according to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received the bodies. Shifa Hospital in Gaza City also received 12 bodies, including three children and two women, after a series of strikes in the north, according to the hospital's director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia. Al-Awda Hospital reported seven killed and 11 wounded in strikes in central Gaza. The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid ...

Israel kills seven senior Hamas terrorists released in 2011 prisoner deal

Among those killed were Riyad Asila and Bassem Abu Sanina, who carried out the 1998 stabbing murder of Israeli civilian Haim Kerman in Jerusalem

Israeli strikes kill 32 in Gaza as war death toll tops 58K after 21 months

Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least 32 people on Sunday, including six children at a water collection point, while the Palestinian death toll passed 58,000 after 21 months of war, local health officials said. Israel and Hamas appeared no closer to a breakthrough in indirect talks meant to pause the war and free some Israeli hostages after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Washington visit last week. A new sticking point has emerged over Israeli troops ' deployment during a ceasefire. Israel says it will end the war only once Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile, something it refuses to do. Hamas says it is willing to free all the remaining 50 hostages, about 20 said to be alive, in exchange for an end to the war and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces. Throughout the war in Gaza, violence has surged in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Funerals were held there Sunday for two Palestinians, including Palestinian-American Sayfollah Musallet, killed by Israeli .

Israeli strikes and shootings kill 52 Palestinians in Gaza: Hamas

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip including four children, while 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said on Saturday. The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths. At least 24 people were killed on their way to a food distribution site near Rafah run by an Israeli-backed American organisation, said hospital officials and witnesses, including those wounded. The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots toward people it said were behaving suspiciously to prevent them from approaching. It

Israeli forces kill two Gaza terror leaders, including sector commander

Fazal Abu al-Ata previously served as deputy commander of the Shuja'iyya sector in Gaza, and during the Iron Swords war was appointed commander of the Shanaiyah sector

Palestinians paying high price to get scarce cash in Gaza

Cash is the lifeblood of the Gaza Strip's shattered economy, and like all other necessities in this war-torn territory food, fuel, medicine it is in extremely short supply. With nearly every bank branch and ATM inoperable, people have become reliant on an unrestrained network of powerful cash brokers to get money for daily expenses and commissions on those transactions have soared to about 40 per cent. The people are crying blood because of this, said Ayman al-Dahdouh, a school director living in Gaza City. It's suffocating us, starving us. At a time of surging inflation, high unemployment and dwindling savings, the scarcity of cash has magnified the financial squeeze on families some of whom have begun to sell their possessions to buy essential goods. The cash that is available has even lost some of its luster. Palestinians use the Israeli currency, the shekel, for most transactions. Yet with Israel no longer resupplying the territory with newly printed bank notes, merchants a

As Netanyahu wraps US visit, progress on Gaza ceasefire remains murky

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service on Thursday for two slain Israeli Embassy staffers as he wraps up a four-day visit to Washington in which talks with President Donald Trump, White House aides and lawmakers focused on finding a pathway to a ceasefire deal in Gaza. But as Netanyahu gets set to head back to Israel, it is unclear if there was any breakthrough on sealing a Trump-backed 60-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which the US leader believes can lead to a permanent end to the 21-month war in Gaza. Netanyahu said in a video released Thursday that he is trying to wrap up the US-backed deal but stressed it will be temporary and would be aimed at releasing the final 50 hostages who remain in captivity in Gaza. The prime minister also underscored that in any potential ceasefire agreement he will not budge from his fundamental demand that Hamas lay down its arms and no longer have any governing or military capabilitiessomething the group so far has ...

Gaza ceasefire possible in a week or two, not in a day: Israeli official

Israeli official said that if the two sides agree to a proposed 60-day ceasefire, Israel would use that time to offer a permanent ceasefire that would require the Palestinian militant group to disarm

US issues sanctions against UN investigator probing abuses in Gaza

The Trump administration announced it is issuing sanctions Wednesday against an independent investigator tasked with probing human rights abuses in the Palestinian territories, the latest effort by the United States to punish critics of Israel's 21-month war in Gaza. The State Department's decision to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, comes after a recent US pressure campaign to force the international body to remove her from her post failed. Albanese, a human rights lawyer, has been vocal about what she has described as the genocide that Israel is waging against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the US, which provides military support, have strongly denied that accusation. In recent weeks, Albanese has issued a series of letters, urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The Italian national has also been a strong supporter of the International Crimina

Israel plans to pack Gaza's population into closed border zone

Israel's defence minister has outlined plans to pack hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a closed zone of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, according to local media reports. It appears to be the latest version of plans by the Israeli government to maintain lasting control over the territory and relocate much of its population of some 2 million. Critics say that would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law because Israel's offensive and blockade have made Gaza largely uninhabitable. Israeli officials say the aim is to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which still controls parts of Gaza and holds dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct 7 attack that triggered the war 21 months ago. Palestinians would then be given the option of emigrating, they say. US President Donald Trump, who has said he is narrowing in on a ceasefire and hopes to eventually end the war, has also voiced support for the mass transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza.

5 IDF soldiers killed overnight in north Gaza, 18 dead in Israeli strikes

Five Israeli soldiers were killed overnight in northern Gaza, the Israeli military said Tuesday. Two other soldiers were seriously wounded. Meanwhile, health officials in Gaza said Israeli strikes at two locations in the territory killed 18 people. Israeli media said the infantry soldiers were on patrol when explosive devices were detonated against them. Media said militants also opened fire on the reinforcements sent to evacuate the dead and wounded. The latest violence comes as Israel and Hamas consider a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal to pause the 21-month conflict in the territory The soldiers' deaths came roughly two weeks after Israel reported once of its deadliest days in months in Gaza, when seven soldiers were killed when a Palestinian attacker attached a bomb to their armoured vehicle. Health officials at the Nasser Hospital, where victims of the Israeli strikes were taken, said one of the strikes targeted tents sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza

Israeli airstrikes kill 38 Palestinians as negotiation team heads to Qatar

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 38 Palestinians in Gaza, hospital officials said on Sunday, as Israel's military said it has struck over 100 targets in the embattled enclave in the past day. The strikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing to fly to Washington for talks at the White House aimed at pushing forward ceasefire efforts. Separately, an Israeli official said the Israeli security Cabinet on Saturday night approved sending aid into the northern part of Gaza, where civilians are suffering from acute food shortages. The official declined to offer more details. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the decision with the media. In Yemen, a spokesperson for the Houthi rebel group announced in a prerecorded message that the group had launched ballistic missiles targeting Ben Gurion airport overnight. The Israeli military said these had been intercepted. President Donald Trump has floated a plan for

Hamas agrees to 'immediately' enter talks on 60-day Gaza ceasefire plan

A deal on the framework would see Hamas return half of the 50 hostages it still holds and pursue mediated talks with Israel to end the war

Strikes kill 94 Palestinians in Gaza, 45 waiting for aid, say authorities

Israeli airstrikes and shootings killed 94 Palestinians in Gaza late Wednesday and Thursday, including 45 who were attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said Thursday. Families wept over the bodies from a strike that hit a tent camp during the night as displaced people slept in southern Gaza. At least 13 members of a single family were killed, including at least six children under 12. My children, my children my beloved, wailed Intisar Abu Assi, sobbing over the bodies of her son and daughters and their young children. Another woman kissed the forehead of a dead little girl wrapped in a blanket on the floor of the morgue at Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis. In central Gaza, a boy stroked the face of his dead sister, 6-year-old Heba Abu Etiwi, in a morgue at Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Hospital. The girl and another of her brothers were among eight people killed when a strike Wednesday evening hit near a stand selling falafel. A separate .

Israeli strikes kill 82 in Gaza, including 38 waiting for aid: Officials

Airstrikes and shootings killed 82 Palestinians in Gaza overnight, including 38 while attempting to get much-needed humanitarian aid, hospitals and the Health Ministry said on Thursday. Israel's military did not have immediate comment on the strikes Wednesday night and Thursday morning. Five people were killed around sites associated with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the newly created, secretive American organization backed by Israel to feed the Gaza Strip's population, while 33 others were killed waiting for aid trucks in other locations across the Gaza Strip.

Hamas says it's ready for ceasefire but wants complete end to war in Gaza

Hamas suggested Wednesday that it was open to a ceasefire agreement with Israel, but stopped short of accepting a US-backed proposal announced by US President Donald Trump hours earlier, insisting on its longstanding position that any deal bring an end to the war in Gaza. Trump said Tuesday that Israel had agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. The US leader has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire, and hostage agreement and bring about an end to the war. Trump said the 60-day period would be used to work toward ending the war something Israel says it won't accept until Hamas is defeated. He said that a deal might come together as soon as next week. But Hamas' response, which emphasised its demand that the war end, raised questions about whether the latest offer could materialise into an actual pause in fighting. Hamas official Taher al-Nunu said that the militant gro