Page 65 - Gaza

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,

New Year's Eve celebrations roll across Asia, but wars cast shadow on 2024

Revellers across Asia celebrated the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve with fireworks and brightly lit signs offering a hopeful start to 2024 for some, even as the globe's ongoing conflicts raised security concerns and let to muted or even cancelled festivities. As the clock struck midnight in Australia, more than 1 million people a number equivalent to one in five of the city's residents watched a 12-minute firework display focused on the Sydney Harbor Bridge from the shore and from boats in the harbour. It's total madness, said German tourist Janna Thomas, who had waited in line since 7.30 am to secure a prime waterfront location in the Sydney Botanic Garden. Organisers worldwide have readied for large-scale celebrations despite the ongoing wars in Gaza and Ukraine. In New York City, where there have been near-daily protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, officials and party organizers said they were prepared to ensure the safety of tens of thousands of revelers who wil

Let's remember people in Gaza facing most unjust assault: Priyanka Gandhi

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday urged people to remember "our brothers and sisters" in Gaza and slammed "the so-called leaders of the world" for watching in silence and moving on "unperturbed in their quest for power and greed". In a post on X on new year's eve, the Congress general secretary said that while our children celebrate, the children of the people in Gaza are being "murdered mercilessly". "As we celebrate the beginning of a new year and wish each other that love, peace, laughter and goodness should fill our lives, let us remember our brothers and sisters in Gaza who are facing the most unjust and inhuman assault on their right to life, dignity and freedom," Priyanka Gandhi said. "While our children celebrate, their children are being murdered mercilessly. The so-called leaders of the world watch in silence and move on unperturbed in their quest for power and greed," she said. Yet there are millions of ordinary people who are raising their voices demanding

Blast near Israel embassy: Police register FIR, 6 suspects questioned

Days after a blast near the Israeli embassy here, the Delhi Police has registered an FIR against "unknown" people and quizzed about half a dozen suspects, officials said on Saturday. According to an official, it has been decided to hand over the case to the Special Cell, the anti-terror unit of the Delhi Police, to "dig out the deeper conspiracy". While the suspects were questioned on Saturday, the FIR was registered on Friday night under Section 3 (punishment for causing an explosion) of the Explosive Substances Act and Section 427 (mischief causing damage) of the Indian Penal Code at the Tughlak Road Police Station based on a complaint lodged by a police officer, an official said. The blast occurred on Tuesday evening in the area between the boundary walls of a house on plot number 4 -- Nanda's House -- and the Central Hindi Training Institute on plot number 2A on Prithviraj Road. The area has bushes, plants and trees and no CCTV camera. It is behind the Israeli embassy on Dr APJ

Gaza war will go on for 'many more months', says Netanyahu as he thanks US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza will continue for "many more months", pushing back against persistent international ceasefire calls after mounting civilian deaths, hunger and mass displacement in the besieged enclave. Netanyahu thanked the Biden administration for its continued backing, including approval for a new emergency weapons sale, the second this month, and prevention of a UN Security Council resolution seeking an immediate cease-fire. 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. In new fighting, Israeli warplanes struck the urban refugee camps of Nuseirat and Bureij in the center of the territory Saturday as ground forces pushed deeper into the southern city of Khan Younis. The Health Ministry in Gaza said Saturday that more than 21,600 Palestinians have been killed in ..

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Carefully evaluating all aspects of unfolding situation in Red Sea: MEA

India values the free movement of commercial shipping and is closely evaluating all aspects of the unfolding situation in the Red Sea, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, however, also added that New Delhi is not part of any multilateral initiative or operation in or around the Red Sea.Notably, tensions have brewed in the Red Sea after Houthi rebels stepped up attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea as a mark of 'protest' against Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip.Addressing the weekly briefing, Bagchi said, "As we said earlier, we value the free movement of commercial shipping, which is one of the fundamental principles underpinning global commerce. We are carefully evaluating all aspects of the unfolding situation in that region. Our defence forces are taking necessary measures in this regard"."But I'm not aware that India is part of any multilateral initiative or operation presently in or around the Red Sea," he ...

US allies reluctant on Red Sea task force to counter Houthi rebel attacks

Two of America's European allies who were listed as contributors to Operation Prosperity Guardian - Italy and Spain - issued statements appearing to distance themselves from the maritime force

IDF uncovers Hamas' tunnels inside, around multiple hospitals within Gaza

The tunnel shafts, that the Hamas fighters used are dozens of metres deep and are linked by an underground network that runs beneath the hospital and into Gaza City

Can do in Beirut what we did in Gaza: Israeli minister warns Hezbollah

"Hezbollah looks at what is happening in Gaza and it understands very well - what we did in Gaza can also be done in Beirut," declared Israel's Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant

J&K could become 'Gaza' without dialogue between India-Pakistan: Farooq

Invoking former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the National Conference President said while speaking to ANI, "Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said that we can change our friends but not our neighbours "

Israel to increase defence spending by at least $8 billion as war rages

The ministry, in a document presented to parliament on Monday, said the overall 2024 budget will probably have to total 562 billion shekels

Egypt floats plan to end Israel-Hamas war, create transitional govt

Egypt has put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a cease-fire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts who would administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, a senior Egyptian official and a European diplomat said on Monday. The proposal, worked out with the Gulf nation of Qatar, has been presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments but still appeared preliminary. It falls short of Israel's professed goal of outright crushing Hamas and would appear not to meet Israel's insistence on keeping military control over Gaza for an extended period after the war. Israel's War Cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will meet later Monday discuss the hostage situation, among other topics, an Israeli official said, but would not say if they would discuss the Egyptian proposal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the ...

Israeli airstrike in Syria kills another Iranian general; toll rises to 3

An Israeli airstrike Monday in a Damascus neighbourhood killed a high-ranking Iranian general, Iranian state media said. The killing of Razi Mousavi, a long-time adviser of the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in Syria, comes as clashes along the Lebanon-Israel border between Hezbollah and Israel continue to intensify with fears of the Israel-Hamas war sparking a regional spillover with Iran-backed groups. The Israeli strikes killed two other generals earlier this month in Syria. Israel struck the Sayida Zeinab neighbourhood, located near a Shiite Muslim shrine, Iran's official news agency IRNA and Britain-based opposition war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. IRNA described Mousavi as a close companion of Gen. Qassim Soleimani, the head of Iran's elite Quds Force who was slain in a US drone strike in Iraq in January 2020. Neither the Israeli military nor Syrian state media immediately issued a statement about the attack. Though IRNA didn't provide other

Pope Francis appeals for end of Israeli strikes at Gaza on Christmas day

Pope Francis on Monday blasted the weapons industry and its instruments of death that fuel wars as he made a Christmas Day appeal for peace in the world and in particular between Israel and the Palestinians. Speaking from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica to the throngs of people below, Francis said he grieved the abominable attack of Hamas against southern Israel on October 7 and called for the release of hostages. And he begged for an end to Israel's military campaign in Gaza and the appalling harvest of innocent civilians as he called for humanitarian aid to reach those in need. Francis devoted his Christmas Day blessing to a call for peace in the world, noting that the biblical story of the birth of Christ in Bethlehem sent a message of peace. But he said that Bethlehem is a place of sorrow and silence this year. Francis' annual Urbi et Orbi ("To the City and the World") speech typically offers a lament of all the misery facing the world, and this year's edition was no differe

Oct 7 revisited: When terror came knocking and Israeli intel was unaware

While most didn't know what had hit them, many, including those occupying top public offices in the country, had no clue how Hamas had breached the iron curtain of Israeli defence and intelligence

136 of our colleagues in Gaza killed in 75 days, says UN Chief Guterres

Guterres said that no one has ever seen such number of casualties of the UN staff in the history of the world organisation

Gaza death toll exceeds 20,000 as Israel expands ground war against Hamas

Israel's war to destroy Hamas has killed more than 20,000 Palestinians, health officials in Gaza said on Friday, as Israel expanded its offensive and ordered tens of thousands more people to leave their homes. The deaths amount to nearly 1 per cent of the territory's prewar population the latest indication of the 11-week-old conflict's staggering human toll. Israel's aerial and ground offensive has been one of the most devastating military campaigns in modern history, displacing nearly 85 per cent of Gaza's 2.3 million people and leveling wide swaths of the tiny coastal enclave. More than half a million people in Gaza a quarter of the population are starving, according to a report Thursday from the United Nations and other agencies. Israel declared war after Hamas's October 7 attack, in which militants from Gaza stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages. Israel has vowed to keep up the fight until Hamas is destroyed and removed from powe

Israel bombed areas in Southern Gaza it designated safe for civilians

During the first six weeks of the war in Gaza, Israel routinely used one of its biggest and most destructive bombs in areas it designated safe for civilians

Canada announces temporary visas for people in Gaza with Canadian relatives

People in the Gaza Strip who have Canadian relatives may apply for temporary visas to Canada, the country's immigration minister said Thursday. However, the federal government cannot guarantee safe passage out of the besieged Palestinian territory. Immigration Minister Marc Miller expects the program to be up and running by Jan. 9. Until now, the government has focused on getting 660 Canadians, permanent residents and their spouses and children out of Gaza. Miller said the government will start accepting applications for people with extended family connections to Canada, including parents, grandparents, siblings and grandchildren. He said people will be offered three-year visas if they meet eligibility and admissibility criteria. Miller said he's not sure how many people will be able to come to Canada under the program, but he expects the number will be in the hundreds. Miller said it's been difficult to get Canadians out of Gaza. We have limited ability, he said.