Page 16 - Gaza

Trump, Netanyahu back Gaza relocation plans amid ceasefire talks

Meeting took place over dinner in the Blue Room as indirect US-backed negotiations between Israel and Hamas continued in Qatar for a potential 60-day ceasefire to halt the ongoing 21-month war in 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

Trump welcomes Hamas' positive reply to US-backed Gaza ceasefire plan

The plan also includes staged release dates for the remaining hostages and a commitment by Israel to allow increased humanitarian aid into Gaza through traditional channels

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

UN reports 613 deaths near Gaza aid points run by US-backed group

The UN human rights office said on Friday it has recorded 613 killings in Gaza near humanitarian convoys and at aid distribution points run by an Israeli-backed American organization since it first began operations in late May. Spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said the rights office was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings. But she said it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. She said it was not immediately clear how many of those killings had taken place at GHF sites, and how many occurred near convoys. Speaking to reporters at a regular briefing, Shamdasani said the figures covered the period from May 27 through June 27, and there have been further incidents since then. She said she was basing the information on an internal situation report at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Shamdasani said the figures, compiled through i

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.

Donald and Melania Trump to meet hostage freed from Gaza at White House

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will meet at the White House on Thursday with Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, who was released in May. The President and First Lady have met with many released hostages from Gaza, and they greatly look forward to meeting Edan Alexander and his family in the Oval Office tomorrow, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. Alexander, now 21, is an American-Israeli from New Jersey. The soldier was 19 when militants stormed his base in Israel and dragged him into the Gaza Strip. Alexander moved to Israel in 2022 after finishing high school and enlisted in the military. He was released on May 12 by the militant group Hamas after 584 days in captivity. Alexander had been in Israel since he was freed until he travelled last month home to New Jersey, where his family still lives. He was among 251 people taken hostage by Hamas in the October 7, 2023 attack that led to the Israel-Hamas ...

Israeli PM Netanyahu vows 'there will be no Hamas' in post-war Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday vowed there will be no Hamas in postwar Gaza. US President Donald 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. Hamas said in a brief statement Wednesday that it had received a proposal from the mediators and is holding talks with them to bridge gaps to return to the negotiating table to try to reach a ceasefire agreement.

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

74 killed in Gaza as Israeli forces strike cafe, fire on crowd seeking food

Israeli forces killed at least 74 people in Gaza on Monday with airstrikes that left 30 dead at a seaside cafe and gunfire that left 23 dead as Palestinians tried to get desperately needed food aid, witnesses and health officials said. One airstrike hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was crowded with women and children, said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside. Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake, he said. Dozens were wounded, many critically, alongside at least 30 people killed, said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza. Two other strikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A strike on a building killed six people near the town of Zawaida, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access a

Trump urges Gaza ceasefire deal amid signs of possible breakthrough

US President Donald Trump on Sunday pleaded for progress in ceasefire talks in the war in Gaza, calling for a deal that would halt the fighting in the 20-monthlong conflict as the sides appeared to be inching closer to an agreement. An Israeli official said plans were being made for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to travel to Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a new deal. The official declined to discuss the focus of the visit and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been finalized. MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social early Sunday between posts about a Senate vote on his tax and spending cuts bill. Trump raised expectations Friday for a deal, saying there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters, he said, We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of. Trump has repeatedly called for Israel and Ha

IDF claims to have killed Hamas mastermind behind October 2023 attack

The Israel Defense Forces has announced that they eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa--one of the founders of Hamas' military wing.The IDF in a late Saturday night post said that Issa was one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attack.In a post on X, the IDF said, "ELIMINATED: eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa--one of the founders of Hamas' military wing. Issa led Hamas' force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre. As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial & naval attacks against Israelis. The IDF & ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre."Meanwhile, as per Al Jazeera, Israel continued its attacks across the Gaza Strip, including an attack that killed at least 20 people, including nine children, in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he believes a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas could be reached within a week.Trump came out with the ...

Trump signals Gaza ceasefire 'close,' likely in a week amid renewed talks

Trump signals a possible ceasefire in Gaza within days, though Israel and Hamas remain at odds as US and regional efforts to end hostilities intensify

Netanyahu denies claim that troops have orders to shoot Gazans seeking aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz emphatically rejected a report in the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, which claimed Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites inside Gaza. They called the report's findings malicious falsehoods designed to defame the military. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Reacting to the Haaretz piece, Israel's military confirmed that it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. It rejected the article's allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians. The foundation, which is backed by an American private contractor, h

Israeli strike kills 18 in Gaza as turmoil mounts over food distribution

An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed. The strike was the latest violence surrounding the distribution of food to Gaza's population, which has been thrown into turmoil over the past month. After blocking all food for 2 1/2 months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. The strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah on Thursday appeared to target members of Sahm, a security unit tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza's Hamas-led Interior Ministry, but includes members of oth

Trump backs Netanyahu, says Israeli PM must not be tried during war

Trump praised Netanyahu and his govt as the nation launched 'Operation Rising Lion' on June 13 and targeted nuclear sites in Iran to stop the latter from advancing its nuclear programme

MIT sued by student, instructor over alleged antisemitism on campus

Lior Alon, a Jewish Israeli mathematics instructor, and William Sussman, a Jewish former PhD student, sued the Cambridge-based research university in Boston federal court

Trump admin to provide $30 mn to Israeli group distributing food in Gaza

The Trump administration is providing USD30 million to an Israeli-backed group distributing food in Gaza, a US official said Tuesday. The request is the first known US government funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation's aid distribution efforts amid the Israel-Hamas war. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive diplomatic issue involving a controversial aid programme, confirmed that the US authorised the funding. The Associated Press reported Saturday that the American-led group had asked the Trump administration for the initial funding so it can continue its aid operation, which has been criticised by the UN, humanitarian groups and others.

Violence against children in conflict at unprecedented levels in 2024: UN

Violence against children caught in multiple and escalating conflicts reached unprecedented levels" last year, with the highest number of violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti, according to a United Nations report released late Thursday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed a staggering 25% surge in grave violations against children under the age of 18 from 2023, when the number of such violations rose by 21%. In 2024, the UN chief said, Children bore the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks, and were affected by the disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements and by deepening humanitarian crises. He cited warfare strategies that included attacks on children, the deployment of increasingly destructive and explosive weapons in populated areas, and the systematic exploitation of children for combat. Guterres said the United Nations verified 41,370 grave violations against ...