Page 35 - Gaza

Sinwar's killing opens up opportunity, uncertainty for war in Gaza

Israel's killing of Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' top leader and the mastermind of the group's Oct. 7 attack, is a dramatic turning point in the brutal yearlong war that it touched off. Sinwar's killing on Thursday decapitates the Palestinian militant group that has already been reeling from months of assassinations up and down its ranks. And it is a potent symbolic achievement for Israel in its battle to destroy Hamas. The killing, coming just 10 days after Israelis and Palestinians marked a year since the deadliest fighting in their decades-old conflict erupted, could set the stage for how the remainder of the war plays out, or even prompt its conclusion depending on how Israel and Hamas choose to proceed. Sinwar's death could serve as an off-ramp for Israel toward ending the warSinwar, who was appointed head of Hamas after its previous leader was killed in a blast in July blamed on Israel, spent years building up Hamas' military strength and is believed to have devised the Oct. 7, 2023,

Will redouble effort to end Israel-Hamas war as Sinwar 'removed': US

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that the Sinwar has not only refused to return the hostages but also turned down the seize fire proposal

Sinwar's death 'good day' for world, opportunity for hostage deal: Biden

President Joe Biden said Thursday that the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar by Israeli troops is a good day for Israel, for the United States, and for the world, and called it an opportunity" to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas and end the yearlong war in Gaza. Biden, in a statement, compared it to the feeling in the US after the killing of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who was responsible for the Sept 11, 2001, attacks, saying the killing of the mastermind of the Oct 7, 2023, attack on Israel proves once again that no terrorists anywhere in the world can escape justice, no matter how long it takes. Biden said he would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders to congratulate them and to discuss the pathway for bringing the hostages home to their families, and for ending this war once and for all. Biden said with Sinwar's death there is now the opportunity for a day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power, and for a political settlement .

News updates: Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu confirms death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar

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Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza kills 15 people

An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in northern Gaza on Thursday killed at least 15 people, including five children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The Israeli military said the strike targeted dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants who had gathered at the Abu Hussein school in Jabaliya, an urban refugee camp in northern Gaza where Israel has been waging a major air and ground operation for more than a week. In a separate development, a building in central Beirut that houses offices of the Al Jazeera news network and the Norwegian Embassy was evacuated after a warning. Al Jazeera reported that the building had been evacuated without saying where the warning had come from. Israel has ordered the evacuation of several buildings, as well as entire cities, towns and villages, as it strikes what it says are targets linked to the Hezbollah militant group. There have also been several instances of evacuation warning calls and text messages that turned out to

US warns Israel to boost humanitarian aid into Gaza or risk losing funding

The Biden administration has warned Israel that it must increase the amount of humanitarian aid it is allowing into Gaza within the next 30 days or it could risk losing access to US weapons funding. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned their Israeli counterparts in a letter dated Sunday that the changes must occur. The letter, which restates US policy toward humanitarian aid and arms transfers, was sent amid deteriorating conditions in northern Gaza and reports Israel had conducted a strike on a hospital tent site in central Gaza that killed at least four people and ignited a fire that left more than two dozen with severe burns. A senior defence official said Tuesday that Blinken and Austin sent a letter to their Israeli counterparts as they saw a recent decrease in assistance reaching Gaza. The official said a similar letter sent by Blinken in April triggered a constructive response and concrete measures from the Israelis. The official, who ..

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News updates: Delhi govt plans to procure mist-spraying drones to check pollution

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More than 40 killed, including 13 children in Israeli strikes on Gaza

Meanwhile, in northern Gaza, five children were killed in an Israeli airstrike while playing marbles in Al Shati camp

Drone strike in Israel injures almost 40 as Hezbollah claims responsibility

Israeli rescue services said almost 40 people were wounded on Sunday in a drone strike in the central city of Binyamina, three of them critically. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah militant group claimed responsibility for one of the most serious strikes to land in Israel in a year of war. Israel's advanced air-defence systems mean that it's rare for so many people to be hurt by drones or missiles. Israeli media reported that two drones were launched from Lebanon, and the military said one was intercepted. It was not immediately clear who was hurt, military members or civilians, or what was hit. Hezbollah said in a statement that it targeted an Israeli military training camp in retaliation for two Israeli strikes in Beirut on Thursday that killed 22 people. It was the second time in two days that a drone has struck in Israel. On Saturday, during the Israeli holiday of Yom Kippur, a drone struck in a suburb of Tel Aviv, causing damage but no injuries. The latest strike came on the same d

Israeli strikes kill family of 8 in Gaza, destroy 100-yr-old mkt in Lebanon

An Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip has killed a family of eight, Palestinian medical officials said Sunday, as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants and pushed for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the territory's north. Israel is also waging an air and ground campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month, though it has not said how or when. The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken. It said another seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies and filmed funeral prayers held at the hospital. More than a year into the war with Hamas, Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targ

Netanyahu mulls plan to empty northern Gaza of civilians, cut off aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is examining a plan to seal off humanitarian aid to northern Gaza in an attempt to starve out Hamas militants, a plan that, if implemented, could trap without food or water hundreds of thousands of Palestinians unwilling or unable to leave their homes. Israel has issued many evacuation orders for the north throughout the yearlong war, the most recent of which was Sunday. The plan proposed to Netanyahu and the Israeli parliament by a group of retired generals would escalate the pressure, giving Palestinians a week to leave the northern third of the Gaza Strip, including Gaza City, before declaring it a closed military zone. Those who remain would be considered combatants meaning military regulations would allow troops to kill them and denied food, water, medicine and fuel, according to a copy of the plan given to the Associated Press by its chief architect, who says the plan is the only way to break Hamas in the north and pressure it to ...

At least 15 dead in Israeli strikes on areas outside Hezbollah strongholds

The ministry reported the highest death toll from an attack on the village of Maaysra, situated north of Beirut

Heavy Israeli bombardment in Gaza as UN peacekeepers in Lebanon hit again

Palestinians in northern Gaza described heavy Israeli bombardment Saturday in the hours after airstrikes killed at least 22 people, as Israel warned people there and in southern Lebanon to get out of the way of offensives against the Hamas and Hezbollah militant groups. In Lebanon, the UN peacekeeping force said its headquarters in Naqoura was hit again, with a peacekeeper struck by gunfire late Friday and in stable condition. It wasn't clear who fired. It occurred a day after Israel's military fired on the headquarters for a second straight day. Israel, which has warned peacekeepers to leave their positions, didn't immediately respond to questions. Hunger warnings emerged again in northern Gaza as residents said they hadn't received aid since the beginning of the month. The U.N. World Food Program said no food aid had entered the north since Oct. 1. An estimated 400,000 people remain there. Israel's military renewed its offensive in northern Gaza almost a week ago while escalating

Israeli strike on refugee camp kills 22, WFP warns of depleting food stocks

The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for residents in northern Gaza, particularly those near the Jabalia refugee camp, as the death toll continues to rise

Israel yet to reach decision on Iran as it steps up strikes in Beirut

A security cabinet meeting on Thursday night ended without a decision on what the response should be, the official said

Israeli forces fire on UN peacekeeper positions in south Lebanon: UNIFIL

Hezbollah said it had fired a missile salvo at Israeli forces on Thursday as they were trying to pull casualties out of the Ras al-Naqoura area, and they were directly hit

UN warns Gaza aid efforts could disintegrate if Israeli legislation passes

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned on Wednesday that if pending Israeli legislation is adopted, all humanitarian operations in Gaza and the West Bank may disintegrate, leaving hundreds of thousands of people in dire need as war rages. Philippe Lazzarini told the UN Security Council that senior Israeli officials are bent on destroying the UN body known as UNRWA, which is the main provider of humanitarian aid in Gaza, the Palestinian territory rocked by a year of war between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli parliamentary committee approved a pair of bills this week that would ban UNRWA from operating in Israeli territory and end all contact between the government and the UN agency. The bill needs final approval from the Knesset, Israel's parliament. Lazzarini said in a video briefing that legally, the Knesset legislation violates Israel's obligation under the United Nations Charter and international law". Israel has alleged that some of UNRWA's thousands of staff .

Biden speaks to Netanyahu on Israel's plans for retaliation against Iran

The Middle East has been on edge awaiting Israel's response to a missile attack last week that Tehran carried out in retaliation for Israel's military escalation in Lebanon

Large-scale Israeli offensive in northern Gaza kills, wounds dozens

A large-scale Israeli operation in northern Gaza has killed and wounded dozens of people and threatens to shut down three hospitals over a year into the war with Hamas, Palestinian officials and residents said Wednesday. Heavy fighting is underway in Jabaliya, where Israeli forces carried out several major operations over the course of the war and then returned as militants regroup. The entire north, including Gaza City, has suffered heavy destruction and has been largely isolated by Israeli forces since late last year. The continuing cycle of destruction and death in Gaza, unleashed by Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, offers a cautionary tale as Israel expands a week-old ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon and considers a major retaliatory strike on Iran. Residents of Jabaliya, a refugee camp dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation, say heavy airstrikes and evacuation warnings have driven hundreds of people from their homes. An airstrik