Page 40 - Gaza

Mideast mediators preparing for ceasefire deal in advance: US official

In a sign that mediators believe a Gaza cease-fire deal is imminent, a US official said Friday that Mideast negotiators are working out logistics for the potential release of hostages and distribution of aid as part of any agreement to end the Israel-Hamas war. The official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity in keeping with rules set by the White House, said the proposal currently on the table basically bridges every gap between Israel and Hamas and mediators were making preparations before a final deal is approved. It was unclear what measures were being taken, but the official said a new implementation cell was being established in Cairo in advance. The cell would focus on logistics, including freeing hostages, providing humanitarian aid for Gaza and ensuring that the terms of the pact are met, the official said. The comments came hours after mediators expressed hope that a deal was within reach. They said two days of talks had wrapped up in Qatar and that they plan

Highlights: India's forex reserves drop by $4.8 bn to $670 bn for the week ended August 9, says RBI

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Families of hostages in Gaza hope cease-fire talks will end their nightmare

Some families of hostages held in Gaza believe the latest round of cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas could be the last best chance to set their loved ones free after more than 300 days of captivity. The families have advocated tirelessly to secure the release of their relatives, who were snatched on Oct. 7 during Hamas' cross-border attack that started the war. Their hope that the latest talks could result in a breakthrough is tinged by 10 months of disappointment - and the growing fear of a wider Mideast war as Israel faces rising tensions with Iran and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon. Roughly 110 hostages remain in Gaza after about 100 were freed during a brief cease-fire in late November. More than 40,000 Palestinians have died in the war, according to Gaza health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and militants. Throughout the war, the families of hostages have pushed on with anguish and despair, rallying Israelis to their cau

Gaza ceasefire negotiations extend by another day as death toll exceeds 40K

"This is vital work. The remaining obstacles can be overcome, and we must bring this process to a close," US national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at the White House

New updates: IMA announces nationwide withdrawal of services by doctors on August 17

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Losing faith in US as mediator in Gaza cease-fire talks: Top Hamas official

A top Hamas official said the Palestinian militant group is losing faith in the United States' ability to mediate a cease-fire in Gaza ahead of a new round of talks scheduled for this week amid mounting pressure to bring an end to the 10-month-old war with Israel. Osama Hamdan told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that Hamas will only participate if the talks focus on implementing a proposal detailed by US President Joe Biden in May and endorsed internationally. The US referred to it as an Israeli proposal and Hamas agreed to it in principle, but Israel said Biden's speech was not entirely consistent with the proposal itself. Both sides later proposed changes, leading each to accuse the other of obstructing a deal. Hamas is especially resistant to Israel's demand that it maintain a lasting military presence in two strategic areas of Gaza after any cease-fire, conditions only made public in recent weeks. We have informed the mediators that...any meeting should be based o

New updates: Vinesh's petition for silver in Olympics 2024 has been dismissed, says IOA President

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Biden admin approves fighter jets' sale to Israel in over $20 bn deal

Under the terms of the deal, the US would send up to 50 of the Boeing Co. F-15IA jets, along with upgrade kits for 25 other F-15s along with radar and other gear

Israeli strikes on Gaza leave children orphaned, parents childless

Reem Abu Hayyah, just three months old, was the only member of her family to survive an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip late Monday. A few miles (kilometres) to the north, Mohamed Abuel-Qomasan lost his wife and their twin babies -- just four days old -- in another strike. More than 10 months into its war with Hamas, Israel's relentless bombardment of the isolated territory has wiped out extended families. It has left parents without children and children without parents or siblings. And some of the sole survivors are so young they will have no memory of those they lost. The Israeli strike late Monday destroyed a home near the southern city of Khan Younis, killing 10 people. The dead included Abu Hayyah's parents and five siblings, ranging in age from 5 to 12, as well as the parents of three other children. All four children were wounded in the strike. There is no one left except this baby, said her aunt, Soad Abu Hayyah. Since this morning, we have been trying to feed her ...

News updates: Vinesh Phogat CAS verdict deferred to August 16 at 9:30 PM IST

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Fitch cuts Israel's rating to A+ as Gaza war seen lasting into 2025

The action reflects the impact of the continuation of the war in Gaza, heightened geopolitical risks and military operations on multiple fronts, analysts wrote

News updates: Intermittent rainfall in Delhi causes waterlogging, traffic snarls

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Israel broadens its evacuation orders after deadly strike on Gaza shelter

The Israeli military ordered more evacuations in southern Gaza early Sunday after a deadly airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the north killed at least 80 Palestinians, according to local health authorities. Israel said it targeted a militant command post, killing at least 19 fighters. Israel has repeatedly ordered mass evacuations as its troops have returned to heavily destroyed areas where they had previously battled Palestinian militants. The vast majority of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced by the 10-month old war, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands have crammed into squalid tent camps with few public services or sought shelter in schools like the one struck on Saturday. Palestinians say nowhere in the besieged territory feels safe. The latest evacuation orders apply to areas in Khan Younis, including part of an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone from which the military said rockets had been fired. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants

Israeli airstrike on a Gaza school kills over 80 people, say officials

An Israeli airstrike hit a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City early Saturday, killing more than 60 people, Palestinian health authorities said, in one of the deadliest strikes in the 10-month-old war between Israel and Hamas. The Israeli military acknowledged the strike, claiming it hit a Hamas command centre within the school. Hamas denied using the school as a command centre. The strike on the Tabeen school in central Gaza City also wounded 47 people, the Health Ministry's Ambulance and Emergency service said. The facility, like almost all of Gaza's schools, has been used as a shelter for people who have been forced to flee their homes by the war. The strike hit without warning in the early morning before sunrise as people were praying at a mosque inside the school, according to Abu Anas, a witness who worked to rescue people. There were people praying, there were people washing and there were people upstairs sleeping, including children, women and old people," he said. The missi

Highlights: Senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia walks out of Tihar jail after 17 months

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Three suspected Houthi attacks target a ship off Yemen: US authorities

Three suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait linking the Gulf of Aden to the Red Sea, including one that saw private security guards shoot and destroy a bomb-loaded drone boat, authorities said Friday. The Houthis did not immediately claim the assaults, though they follow a monthslong campaign by the rebels targeting shipping through the Red Sea corridor over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. After a recent two-week pause, their attacks resumed following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran, amid concerns of a wider regional war. Iran backs the Houthis as part of what it calls a regional Axis of Resistance. The operations are ongoing our operations toward occupied Palestine to target the Israeli enemy, our operations at sea, the inevitable forthcoming response, as well as coordination with the axis in any joint operations, warned the Houthi's secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, in a speech ...

Iran could discard revenge plan against Israel in return for Gaza ceasefire

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the US has told both- Israel and Iran that 'no one should escalate this conflict'

US, other frustrated mediators call on Israel, Hamas to resume Gaza talks

Leaders of the United States, Egypt and Qatar jointly demanded Israel and Hamas return to stalled talks on the war in Gaza next week, saying Thursday that only the details of carrying out a cease-fire and hostage release remain to be negotiated. There is no further time to waste, nor excuses from any party for further delay, they said in a joint statement. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Thursday that it had accepted the invitation. President Joe Biden, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Qatari Emir Tamim al-Thani, mediators in indirect negotiations to end 10 months of devastating war in Gaza, set the talks for August 15, to take place in either Doha, Qatar, or Cairo. A senior US official, speaking to reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss the push by mediators, said only four or five areas of disagreement over implementation remained to be resolved between the two opponents. The official cited the timing of a planned swap of Palestinian ..

US, Egypt, and Qatar call for Israel-Hamas ceasefire talks next week

The three countries acting as mediators said that they are prepared to present a final bridging proposal

Georgia univ upholds sanctions for 6 students over Israel-Hamas war protest

Six University of Georgia students arrested during an April 29 protest against the Israel-Hamas war will remain suspended through the fall semester, the university's Office of Student Conduct announced on Monday. The students will also remain on probation for the remainder of their academic careers at the university. The decision came after a 13-hour disciplinary hearing on July 30. Students can appeal the ruling to the university's vice president of student affairs. An attorney representing two of the suspended students, Josh Lingsch, called the hearing nothing more than a kangaroo court" in a Thursday statement Campus police arrested 16 protesters who set up an encampment near university President Jere Morehead's office on the Athens campus in April. The school suspended the students hours later. Some students informally resolved charges with the school by acknowledging their violations, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. During the hearing, the six remaining students sa