Page 19 - Hamas

'All hell to pay if hostages not released': Trump issues warning to Hamas

US President-elect Donald Trump said that despite global concern over the Israeli hostages, there has been no significant action taken

Israel strikes Hezbollah smuggling sites in Syria, testing ceasefire

Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria's border with Lebanon, the Israeli military said Saturday, testing a fragile, days-old ceasefire that halted months of fighting between the sides but has seen continued sporadic fire. The military said it struck sites that had been used to smuggle weapons from Syria to Lebanon after the ceasefire took effect, which the military said was a violation of its terms. There was no immediate comment from Syrian authorities or activists monitoring the conflict in that country. Hezbollah also did not immediately comment. The Israeli strike, the latest of several since the ceasefire began on Wednesday, came as unrest spread to other areas of the Middle East, with Syrian insurgents breaching the country's largest city, Aleppo, in a shock offensive that added fresh uncertainty to a region reeling from multiple wars. The truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah, brokered by the United States and France, calls for an

Want a future that has hope for Palestinians: Israeli Ambassador to India

Ambassador Reuven Azar said that Israel has given very severe blows to Hamas

Gaza death toll from Israel-Hamas war crosses 44,000: Palestine officials

The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, local health officials said Thursday. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The Health Ministry said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the war. It has said the real toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel PM Netanyahu, Hamas officials

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic

Senate rejects effort from Sanders to block weapons for Israel over deaths

The Senate on Wednesday rejected an attempt by Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza over mounting civilian deaths there. The Vermont lawmaker and a small group of Democrats sought to put legislation up for a Senate vote that would block the sale of some tank and mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits to Israel. The first attempt to block the sales was rejected overwhelmingly, and two more were expected to go down to defeat. Sanders, in making the case for stopping the sales, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people. Known as joint resolutions of disapproval, the measures would have had to pass both houses of Congress and withstand any presidential veto to become binding. Congress has never succeeded in blocking any arms sales with the joint resolutions. But the vote served as a test of broader frustration among ..

Airline exodus leaves Israelis and companies isolated amid Hamas war

Direct routes to dozens of major cities - Washington D.C., San Francisco, Toronto, Hong Kong, New Delhi - have been suspended, reducing face-to-face business meetings

Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct 1 invasion

Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported. The clashes and further Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war. Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the troops were later pushed back. The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be immediately verified. Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue their limited, localized and targeted operational .

Family of Israeli-American hostage asks Biden, Trump for captives' return

Over the past two weeks, the political landscape around the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza have undergone a dramatic transformation. The American elections, the firing of Israel's popular defense minister, Qatar's decision to suspend its mediation, and the ongoing war in Lebanon all seem to have pushed the possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza further away than it has been in more than a year of conflict. Still, some families of the dozens of hostages who remain captive in Gaza are desperately hoping the changes will reignite momentum to bring their loved ones home though the impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House and a hard-line new defense minister in Israel remains unknown. I think maybe there is new hope, said Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, 20, a soldier kidnapped from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Alexander's parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, who live in New Jersey, met

Israel's conduct in Gaza consistent with characteristics of genocide: UN

The UN Committee alleged Israel of intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury

Gaza's freed hostages meet Pope Francis, push campaign to bring others home

A delegation of former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and their relatives met Thursday with Pope Francis and expressed hope that the incoming and outgoing US administrations would work together to bring the remaining hostages home. The freed hostages included Yelena Troufanov, who was released last November but whose son Sasha remains in Gaza and appeared in a video released Wednesday by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group. You see in the picture how my child has changed over the course of this year, Yelena Troufanov told a news conference in Rome after the papal audience. I am very worried about his condition, I see that he is not in a good mental state and not in a good physical state. She and the other former hostages and relatives renewed their calls for a deal to bring the remaining hostages home, especially with winter approaching. They said they hoped the incoming Trump administration would work with the outgoing Biden administration to push the process forward. The war star

Israel kills 200 Hezbollah terrorists, destroys 140 launchers in a week

Targets included a launcher from which rockets were fired into the Western Galilee and central Israel on Tuesday and Wednesday

Qatar suspends mediation efforts on Gaza, Hamas office may have to leave

Qatar has suspended its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel, it said Saturday, after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal for Gaza. It wasn't immediately clear whether the remaining Hamas leadership hosted by Qatar must leave, or where it would go. Hamas has good relations with Iran and Turkiye, and some of its leaders are now in Lebanon. However, Qatar is highly likely to return to mediation efforts if both sides show serious political willingness to reach a deal, according to an official with Egypt, the other key mediator. Qatar told Israel and Hamas it can't continue to mediate as long as there is a refusal to negotiate a deal in good faith and "as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose in Qatar, a diplomatic source briefed on the matter said. Qatar told Hamas it will have to leave if it isn't ready to engage in serious negotiations, the source said. In Washington, a US official said the Biden administratio

'Serves no purpose': Why Qatar won't mediate between Israel and Hamas

Officials say Qatar has decided to suspend its key mediation efforts between Hamas and Israel. However, Qatar is highly likely to return to the efforts if both sides show serious political willingness to reach a deal on the war in Gaza, according to one official. A diplomatic source briefed on the matter said both Israel and Hamas, along with the United States, were informed after the decision was made. The source added that as a consequence, the Hamas political office no longer serves its purpose in Qatar. The announcement comes after growing frustration with the lack of progress on a cease-fire deal.

US elections: What Trump's win means for Israel-Hamas, Russia-Ukraine wars?

Donald Trump's return to the presidency introduces a shift in US foreign policy, favouring Israel's military objectives and proposing negotiation-focused approaches to the Ukraine conflict

Israel PM Netanyahu dismisses defence minister as wars rage, protests erupt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday dismissed his popular defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in a surprise announcement that came as the country is embroiled in wars on multiple fronts across the region. The move sparked protests across the country. Netanyahu and Gallant have repeatedly been at odds over the war in Gaza. But Netanyahu had avoided firing his rival before taking the step as the world's attention was focused on the US presidential election. Netanyahu cited significant gaps and a crisis of trust between the men in his Tuesday evening announcement. In the midst of a war, more than ever, full trust is required between the prime minister and defence minister, Netanyahu said. Unfortunately, although in the first months of the campaign there was such trust and there was very fruitful work, during the last months this trust cracked between me and the defence minister. In the early days of the war, Israel's leadership presented a unified front as it responded to

Israeli strike kills 20 in north Gaza, where Palestinians are without food

An Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children, Palestinian officials said Tuesday, as Palestinians fled Israel's assault. Some said they had hardly eaten, with aid cut off for weeks to the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory. Israel has been waging an offensive in Gaza's northernmost end for weeks, saying it is targeting Hamas militants who regrouped in the area. The UN has said Israel hasn't allowed food and other supplies into the area north of Gaza City since the assault began, even as tens of thousands of people remain there. That has drawn rebukes from the Biden administration, which has warned that US laws might force it to curb military aid to Israel if more aid is not allowed in. The strike late Monday hit a home where several displaced families were sheltering in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel, according to Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of the recently raided and barely functioning ..

Israeli airstrike kills 20 people in North Gaza, say Palestinian officials

Palestinian medical officials say an Israeli airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip has killed at least 20 people, mostly women and children. Hossam Abu Safiya, the director of a nearby hospital that received the casualties, said the strike late Monday hit a home in the town of Beit Lahiya where multiple families were sheltering. The dead included eight women and six children, according to a list provided by the Gaza Health Ministry's emergency service. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. Israel has been waging a massive offensive in northern Gaza which was already the most isolated and heavily destroyed part of the territory for nearly a month. It has ordered the complete evacuation of Beit Lahiya, the nearby town of Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp, and has allowed almost no humanitarian aid into the area for over a month. Tens of thousands of people have fled to nearby Gaza City in the latest wave of displacement in the war, which began whe

Highlights: PM Modi condemns attack on Hindu temple in Brampton, asks Canada to uphold rule of law

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news developments from across the world here

Netanyahu visits Lebanon border, vows to push Hezbollah beyond Litani River

Netanyahu's visit to the Lebanese border included an assessment with the commanders regarding the operational picture