Page 31 - Hamas

Israel targets Hamas' leader in Gaza. Who is he and what it means for war?

Israel on Saturday said it tried to assassinate Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of the Hamas group's military wing who has long topped the country's most-wanted list. The strike took place in an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone in southern Gaza, killing at least 90 Palestinians and wounding nearly 300 more, according to local health officials. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was still not absolutely certain whether Deif and another target of the strike, Rafa Salama, were killed. He also told a news conference that Hamas' entire leadership is marked for death. Here is a closer look at Hamas' elusive military leader and what his death could mean for the trajectory of the war. Who is Mohammed Deif ? Deif was among the founders of Hamas' military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in the 1990s and has led the unit for over 20 years. Israel has identified him and Hamas' Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, as the chief architects of the Oct. 7 attack that killed some 1,200 people i

Argentina's show of support to Israel, designates Hamas a terrorist group

Argentina designated Hamas a terrorist organisation on Friday and ordered a freeze on the financial assets of the Palestinian group, a largely symbolic move as President Javier Milei seeks to align Argentina strongly with the US and Israel. Announcing the decision, Milei's office cited the militant Palestinian group's cross-border attack on Israel last October 7 that killed some 1,200 people and took 250 others hostage, in the deadliest assault in Israel's 76-year history. The statement also mentioned Hamas' close ties to Iran, which Argentina blames for two deadly militant attacks on Jewish sites in the country. The move comes just days before the 30th anniversary of one of those attacks, the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires. It killed 85 people and wounded hundreds more in the worst such attack in Argentina's modern history. The other attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, in 1992, killed more than 20 people. Argentina's judiciary has accused memb

Israeli army admits October 7 failures, including slow response time

The Israeli military on Thursday acknowledged a string of errors in its response to the deadly Hamas attacks last Oct. 7, including slow response times and disorganization, as it released the results of its first investigation into failures during the assault that triggered the war in Gaza. The report focused on the border community of Be'eri, where over 100 people were killed and more than 30 others taken hostage by Hamas. It was among the hardest-hit communities in the early morning attack, and it was the scene of one of the highest-profile confrontations of Oct. 7 a standoff in which militants held a group of hostages inside a home. The army failed in its mission to protect the residents of Kibbutz Be'eri, the military's chief spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said in a televised address. It is painful and difficult for me to say that. During the standoff, a tank fired at the home, raising concerns that the 13 hostages inside were killed by friendly fire. The military conclude

Thousands flee again after Israeli forces push deeper into Gaza city

Israeli forces advanced deeper into the Gaza Strip's largest city in pursuit of militants who had regrouped there, sending thousands of Palestinians fleeing on Monday from an area ravaged in the early weeks of the nine-month-long war. The Gaza City incursion comes as Israel and Hamas drew closer to bridging gaps in indirect talks over a cease-fire and hostage release. Israeli troops were again battling militants in areas that the army said had been largely cleared months ago in northern Gaza. The military ordered evacuations ahead of the raids, but Palestinians say nowhere feels safe. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced, often multiple times. Hundreds of thousands are packed into sweltering tent camps. Israel ordered the evacuation of northern Gaza in the opening weeks of the war and has prevented most people from returning. But hundreds of thousands of Palestinians remain, living in the shells of homes or shelters. We fled in the darkness amid heavy strikes, s

'Gaza destruction likely pushed Hamas to soften cease-fire demands'

Several officials in the Middle East and the US believe the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip caused by a nine-month Israeli offensive likely has helped push Hamas to soften its demands for a cease-fire agreement. Hamas over the weekend appeared to drop its longstanding demand that Israel promise to end the war as part of any cease-fire deal. The sudden shift has raised new hopes for progress in internationally brokered negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday boasted that military pressure including Israel's ongoing two-month offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah is what has led Hamas to enter negotiations. Hamas, an Islamic militant group that seeks Israel's destruction, is highly secretive and little is known about its inner workings. But in recent internal communications seen by The Associated Press, messages signed by several senior Hamas figures in Gaza urged the group's exiled political leadership to accept the cease-fire proposal pitch

Highlights: Delhi Police books TMC MP Mahua Moitra for 'derogatory' social media post on NCW chief

From Surat's building collapse to Israel-Hamas truce talks, catch all the latest update from across the globe here

Hamas signals flexibility in talks with Israel, eases its ceasefire demand

The conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated following Hamas' attacks on October 7, which resulted in widespread casualties

Hamas drops objections to US-backed cease-fire proposal as talks continue

An Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea was in Qatar earlier Friday for the talks, and returned home late in the day

Mossad chief goes to Qatar for talks with Hamas over Gaza ceasefire

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet discussed Hamas' latest offer on Thursday. He then held a 30-minute call with US President Joe Biden

Hamas broadly agrees with cease-fire framework with Israel: US official

The official spoke after a half-hour phone meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel weighs Hamas' response to cease-fire proposal as diplomacy revives

Israel's Cabinet was set to convene on Thursday to discuss Hamas' latest response to a US-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire in Gaza, as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month war stirred back to life after a weekslong hiatus. Fighting, meanwhile, has intensified between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, with the militant group saying it fired more than 200 rockets and exploding drones into northern Israel to avenge the killing of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike the day before. The relatively low-level conflict has literally set the border ablaze, and raised fears of a potentially even more devastating war in the Middle East. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire between Hamas a fellow Iran-backed ally and Israel. The United States has rallied world support behind a plan that would see the release of all of the scores of hostages still held by the militant group in return for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forc

Australia: Pro-Palestinians breach Parliament's security; unfurl banners

Pro-Palestinian protesters breached security at Australia's Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof on Thursday as a senator quit the government over its direction on the Gaza war. Tensions over Israel's war against Hamas dominated Parliament's final sitting day before a five-week break. The four protesters were arrested after draping the words war crimes" and genocide as well as the Palestinian rallying cry from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free for more than an hour over the building's facade known as the Great Verandah. Inside the building, Afghanistan-born Sen. Fatima Payman, the only Australian federal lawmaker ever to wear a hajib during sittings, announced she had quit the ruling Labour Party over her refusal to toe the party line on Gaza. My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people, Payman told reporters. Witnessing our government's indifference to the

Alleging rocket attack on its territory, Israel hits Hamas sites in Gaza

Among the targets that were attacked were a weapons warehouse, apartments used as operations control centers and other terrorist infrastructures

Lawsuit accuses Iran, Syria, and N Korea of backing Hamas' Oct 7 attack

Victims of Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel sued Iran, Syria and North Korea on Monday, saying their governments supplied the militants with money, weapons and know-how needed to carry out the assault that precipitated Israel's ongoing war in Gaza. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York, seeks at least $4 billion in damages for a coordination of extrajudicial killings, hostage takings, and related horrors for which the defendants provided material support and resources. Iran's mission to the United Nations declined to comment on the allegations, while Syria and North Korea did not respond. The United States has deemed Iran, Syria and North Korea to be state sponsors of terrorism, and Washington has designated Hamas as what's known as a specially designated global terrorist. Because such countries rarely abide by court rulings against them in the United States, if the lawsuit's plaintiffs are successful, they could seek compensation from a fund created by Congress that all

Israel releases head of Gaza's main hospital 7 months after hospital raid

Israel released the director of Gaza's main hospital on Monday, seven months after the military raided the facility over allegations it was being used as a Hamas command centre. The release of Mohammed Abu Selmia without charge or trial raised further questions about Israel's allegations regarding Shifa Hospital, which its forces have raided on two occasions since the start of its nearly nine-month war with Hamas. Abu Selmia said he and other prisoners had been tortured and held under harsh conditions, allegations that could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinian detainees who have been released back into Gaza. Our detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars, he said. There was almost daily torture. Cells are broken into and prisoners are beaten. He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs. He said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held h

Israel presses Hamas in Gaza's Shejaya, destroys compounds in civilian area

Over the past day, the troops eliminated several terrorists, located weapons, and conducted targeted raids on booby-trapped combat compounds

Iran votes to replace Prez killed in chopper crash, but apathy remains high

Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. Voters face a choice between hard-line candidates and a little-known politician who belongs to Iran's reformist movement that seeks to change its Shiite theocracy from within. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from the ballot while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognised monitors. The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels are engaged in the fight

Suspected Houthi attacks target ship in Gulf of Aden, Israeli city of Eilat

Suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels early Wednesday targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Israeli port city of Eilat, authorities said. The attacks follow the departure of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after an eight-month deployment in which the aircraft carrier led the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have reduced shipping drastically through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages. The ship attack happened off the coast of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The captain of a merchant vessel reported a missile impacted the water in close proximity to the vessel, the UKMTO said. The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. The UKMTO did not say if the ship had been damaged. Meanwhile, the Israeli military early Wednesday said a drone f

Israel to roll out plan to replace Hamas in northern Gaza, says official

Said Hanegbi, You cannot completely get Hamas to disappear because it's an idea, a concept

UN tells Israel it will suspend aid ops across Gaza without improved safety

Senior UN officials have told Israel they will suspend aid operations across Gaza unless urgent steps are taken to better protect humanitarian workers, two UN officials say. A UN letter sent to senior Israeli officials this month said Israel must provide UN workers with direct communication with Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza, among other steps, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing negotiations with Israeli officials. The UN officials say there has been no final decision on suspending operations across Gaza and that talks with Israelis were ongoing. The UN World Food Program has already suspended aid delivery from a US-built pier in Gaza over security concerns. Israeli military officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.