Page 74 - Gaza

We share goal of preventing spread of conflict in West Asia: US official

India and the US share the goal of preventing the spread of the current conflict in the Middle East, a senior State Department official said on Thursday, underlining that this would be an important topic of discussion during the 2+2 ministerial meeting in New Delhi next week. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken along with Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin would be in New Delhi on November 10 for the 2+2 dialogue with their Indian counterparts External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The two sides would discuss the Indo-Pacific region, Russia and Ukraine along with the bilateral issues. They will be travelling to India for the annual 2+2 Dialogue, in which they have extended discussions with their ministerial counterparts. The 2+2 Dialogue was created in 2018," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu told reporters hours before Blinken left for a five-nation Asia trip. "(The 2+2 dialogue) allows our two countries to have ...

Gaza war temporary setback for Haifa port regional expansion: Chairman

Adding further momentum, global leaders announced in September a multinational rail and ports deal linking the Middle East and South Asia on the sidelines of the G20 summit

9,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war: Gaza Health Ministry

The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Thursday that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out more than three weeks ago. Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, a ministry spokesperson, said 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza, including 3,760 who are under 18. More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the vast majority civilians killed by Hamas in its bloody October 7 incursion into Israel. The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to UN scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel's tallies. Israel's ground troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the US and Arab countries intensified diplomatic efforts to ease the siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and bring about at least a brief stop to the fighting to help civilians. President Joe Biden suggested a humanitarian pause the day before, as

Efforts to pause fighting gain steam as Israeli troops push toward Gaza

Israel's ground troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the US and Arab countries intensified diplomatic efforts to ease the siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and bring about at least a brief stop to the fighting to help civilians. President Joe Biden suggested a humanitarian pause on Wednesday, as hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded Palestinians were allowed out of Gaza for the first time, exiting via Egypt's Rafah crossing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected back in the region on Friday. Arab countries, including those allied with the US and at peace with Israel, have expressed mounting unease with the war. Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel's envoy to remain out of the country until there's a halt to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing. More than 3,600 Palestinian children have been killed in 25 days of fighting, as bombings have driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and food, water and

Blinken will enter diplomatic maelstrom over Gaza war on new Mideast trip

Just weeks after a frenzied trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the region with a somewhat more nuanced message than he offered in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' bloody October 7 attack on Israel and Israel's military response. As he did last month, Blinken will stress U.S. support for Israel and try to prevent a wider Mideast war as he visits Israel and Jordan starting on Friday. But Blinken's agenda this time is more crowded and more complex as the conflict intensifies and the Biden administration grapples with competing domestic and international interests and anger. He'll push for the evacuation of more foreigners from Gaza and more humanitarian aid for the territory. He'll press Israel to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank committed by Jewish settlers. And, he'll stress the importance of protecting civilians even though the administration has yet to offer any criticism of Israel for strikes that have killed

Israel criticises South American nations after they cut diplomatic ties

Israel criticized Bolivia, Chile and Colombia on Wednesday after the South American countries undertook a series of diplomatic moves to protest Israel's military operations against Hamas in Gaza. Other Latin American countries, including Argentina and Brazil, have also increased their criticism of the impact that Israel's military operations are having on civilians. Israel on Wednesday called on Colombia and Chile to explicitly condemn the Hamas terrorist organisation, which slaughtered and abducted babies, children, women and the elderly, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The call came hours after Chile and Colombia both recalled their ambassadors to Israel on Tuesday evening amid criticism of the killing of civilians in Gaza. Israel expects Colombia and Chile to support the right of a democratic country to protect its citizens, and to call for the immediate release of all the abductees, and not align themselves with Venezuela and Iran in support of Hama

First group of civilian evacuees leave Gaza via Rafah border crossing

Under the deal reached between Egypt, Israel and Hamas, a number of foreign nationals and critically wounded people will be allowed to leave the besieged territory

Israel-Hamas war: Dozens killed in Jabalia camp; latest updates

Israeli airstrikes hit a densely populated refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, killing dozens and a Hamas commander. Jabalia is the largest of the Gaza Strip’s refugee camps. Watch the video.

Israel's step by step offensive on Hamas risks extending war in Gaza

Five-day ongoing ground campaign to destroy the group that runs the Gaza Strip involves armed forces moving gradually into the Palestinian territory while backed up by tanks and artillery

Hamas are modern-day Nazis, they are rulers of Gaza: Israeli envoy at UN

Erdan stressed that the world is "deafeningly silent" just like in the rise of Nazism

Israeli ministry proposes transferring Gaza civilians to Egypt's Sinai

An Israeli government ministry has drafted a wartime proposal to transfer the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people to Egypt's Sinai peninsula, drawing condemnation from the Palestinians and worsening tensions with Cairo. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office played down the report compiled by the Intelligence Ministry as a hypothetical exercise a concept paper. But its conclusions deepened long-standing Egyptian fears that Israel wants to make Gaza into Egypt's problem, and revived for Palestinians memories of their greatest trauma the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of people who fled or were forced from their homes during the fighting surrounding Israel's creation in 1948. We are against transfer to any place, in any form, and we consider it a red line that we will not allow to be crossed," Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said of the report. What happened in 1948 will not be allowed to happen again." A mass displacement, Rudeineh said, .

UN agency in Gaza says urgent ceasefire matter of life and death for people

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees told a UN emergency meeting Monday an immediate humanitarian ceasefire has become a matter of life and death for millions, accusing Israel of collective punishment of Palestinians and the forced displacement of civilians. Philippe Lazzarini warned that a further breakdown of civil order following the looting of the agency's warehouses by Palestinians searching for food and other aid will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the largest UN agency in Gaza to continue operating. Briefings to the Security Council by Lazzarini, the head of the UN children's agency UNICEF and a senior UN humanitarian official painted a dire picture of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza 23 days after Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and its ongoing retaliatory military action aimed at obliterating the militant group, which controls Gaza. According to the latest figures from Gaza's Ministry of Health, more than 8,300 ...

Israel pushes deeper into Gaza; Netanyahu rejects calls for cease-fire

Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza on Monday, advancing in tanks and other armoured vehicles on the territory's main city and freeing a soldier held captive by Hamas militants. The Israeli prime minister rejected calls for a cease-fire, even as airstrikes landed near hospitals where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering beside the wounded. The military said a female soldier captured during Hamas' brutal October 7 incursion was rescued in Gaza the first since the weekslong war began. It provided few details, but said in a statement that Pvt. Ori Megidish is doing well and had met with her family. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed her home, saying the achievement by Israel's security forces illustrates our commitment to free all the hostages. He also rejected calls for a cease-fire to facilitate the release of captives or end the war, which he has said will be long and difficult. Calls for a cease-fire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, he told a pres

No tolerance for terror

India's UNGA vote on the Arab League resolution was appropriate

Israel expands assault into Gaza as fears rise over strikes near hospitals

Israeli troops and armor pushed deeper into the northern Gaza Strip on Monday, reaching built-up areas as the U.N. and medical staff warned that airstrikes are hitting closer to hospitals, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have sought shelter alongside thousands of wounded. The increasing ground operations came a day after 33 trucks carrying food, medicine and other supplies entered Gaza from Egypt, the largest convoy of humanitarian aid since the war between Israel and Hamas began. Relief workers said Monday the assistance still fell far short of needs in Gaza, which has been under siege for weeks. The Gaza Health Ministry said the death toll among Palestinians passed 8,000, mostly women and minors, as Israeli tanks and infantry pursued what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a second stage in the war ignited by Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 incursion. The toll is without precedent in decades of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Over 1,400 people have died on the Israeli side, mainl

Biden speaks to Al-Sisi, appreciates Egypt's role in aid delivery to Gaza

They also discussed the importance of protecting civilian lives, respect for international humanitarian law, and ensuring that Palestinians in Gaza are not displaced to Egypt or any other nation

Internet returns after vanishing for most of Gaza amid heavy bombardment

Two days after cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for most of Gaza amid a heavy Israeli bombardment, the crowded enclave came back online Sunday as communications systems were gradually restored. That's a welcome development for Gaza following a communications blackout that began late Friday as Israel expanded ground operations and launched intense airstrikes that illuminated the night sky with furious orange flashes. A rare few Palestinians with international SIM cards or satellite phones took it upon themselves to get the news out. By Sunday morning, phone and internet communications had been restored to many people in Gaza, according to telecommunications providers in the area, Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org and confirmation on the ground. After weeks of a total Israeli siege, Palestinians in Gaza felt the vise tightening. Social media had been a lifeline for Palestinians desperate to get news and to share their terrifying plight with the world. Now eve

Israel strikes near largest Gaza hospital after accusing Hamas of using it

Israeli warplanes carried out airstrikes early Sunday near Gaza's largest hospital, which is packed with patients and tens of thousands of Palestinians seeking shelter, residents said. Israel has said Gaza's militant Hamas rulers have a command post under the hospital, without providing much evidence. The strikes came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a second stage in Israel's war on Hamas, three weeks after Hamas launched a brutal incursion into Israel October 7. Tanks and infantry pushed into Gaza over the weekend in what officials described as a widening ground offensive as Israel pounded the territory from air, land and sea. The bombardment described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war knocked out most communications in the territory late Friday, largely cutting off the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from the world. Communications were restored to many people in Gaza early Sunday, according to local telecoms companies, ...

We share concerns regarding terrorism: PM Modi speaks with Egyptian prez

Sharing details of his conversations with the Egyptian President on his social media handle, PM Modi said both leaders shared concerns over the scourge of terrorism

Gaza war entered new stage and will be 'long and difficult', says Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the nation Saturday night that the military has opened a second stage in the war against Hamas by sending ground forces into Gaza and expanding attacks from the ground, air and sea. He said it will only increase ahead of a broad ground invasion into the territory. It will be long and difficult, he said. We are ready. The bombardment, described by Gaza residents as the most intense of the war, knocked out most communications in Gaza. This largely cut off the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people from the world, while enabling the Israeli military to control the narrative in the new stage of fighting. The military released grainy images Saturday showing tank columns moving slowly in open areas of Gaza, many apparently near the border, and said warplanes bombed dozens of Hamas tunnels and underground bunkers. The underground sites are a key target in Israel's campaign to crush the territory's ruling group after its bloody incursion into ..