Page 32 - Hamas

Muslim pilgrims start Hajj against backdrop of destructive Israel-Hamas war

In sweltering temperatures, Muslim pilgrims in Mecca converged on a vast tent camp in the desert on Friday, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Ahead of their trip, they circled the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site. More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj, and the number was still growing as more pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia joined. Saudi authorities expected the number of pilgrims to exceed 2 million this year. This year's Hajj came against the backdrop of the raging war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants, which pushed the entire Middle East to the brink of a regional war between Israel and its allies on one side and Iran-backed militant groups on the other. Palestinians in the coastal enclave of Gaza were not able to travel to Mecca for Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May when Israel extended its ground offensive to th

Ceasefire push, war aid talks on cards as G7 summit begins today in Italy

The wording by the G-7, specifically name-checking Biden, appears designed to corner PM Benjamin Netanyahu into formally accepting the cease-fire proposal on which he's also been equivocating

Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel as cease-fire talks hang in balance

Lebanon's Hezbollah fired a massive barrage of rockets into northern Israel on Wednesday to avenge the killing of a top commander, further escalating regional tensions as the fate of an internationally-backed plan for a cease-fire in Gaza hung in the balance. The retaliatory attack came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the region to push a cease-fire proposal with global support that has not been fully embraced by Israel or Hamas. The militant group submitted its first official response late Tuesday, requesting amendments to the deal. Hezbollah, an Iran-backed ally of Hamas, has traded fire with Israel nearly every day since the 8-month-long Israel-Hamas war began and says it will only stop if there is a truce in Gaza. That has raised fears of an even more devastating regional conflagration. Air raid sirens sounded across northern Israel, and the military said that about 160 projectiles were fired from southern Lebanon, making it one of the largest attacks since the ..

Report cites crimes by Israeli Army, Palestinian militants starting Oct 7

UN-backed human rights experts say in a report issued Wednesday that Israeli forces and Palestinian militants engaged in sexual and gender-based violence during the first months of the Israel-Hamas war. The independent experts, in a detailed chronicling of events that have mostly been reported in the media, said Israeli forces and Palestinian militants committed war crimes, while Israel was also said to have committed crimes against humanity. Israel, which has refused to cooperate with the body and accused it of bias, rejected the allegations. The report, which covered the time between the Oct 7 rampage and the end of last year, laid out a wide array of alleged rights violations and crimes by both sides during the conflict. It said Israeli forces had committed acts including forced starvation, murder or willful killing, collective punishment and intentional attacks on civilians, and that the military wings of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups had performed deliberate killings

Hamas responds to Gaza cease-fire plan; US says it is evaluating reply

Hamas said Tuesday that it gave mediators its reply to the US-backed proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, seeking some "amendments" on the deal. It appeared the reply was short of an outright acceptance that the United States has been pushing for but kept negotiations alive over an elusive halt to the eight-month war. The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt who have been key mediators alongside the United States confirmed that they had received Hamas' response and said mediators were studying it. "We're in receipt of this reply that Hamas delivered to Qatar and to Egypt, and we are evaluating it right now," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington. Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included amendments that confirm the cease-fire, withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchange. Taha did not elaborate. But while supporting the broad outlines of the deal, Hamas officials have expressed wariness over whether Israel would implement

'Seeds of Summer', How Israel rescued 4 hostages from Gaza | Israel - Hamas war

4 hostages have been rescued by the Israeli military from central Gaza. These hostages were captured on October 7 when Hamas had launched an attack on southern Israel.

Brics expresses concern over unprecedented escalation of violence in Gaza

The BRICS nations on Monday expressed grave concern over the "unprecedented" escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli military operations and reaffirmed their support for Palestine's full membership in the United Nations. At a meeting in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod, the BRICS foreign ministers reiterated the grouping's unwavering commitment to the vision of a two-state solution to the Palestine issue based on international law. Secretary (Economic Relations) in the Ministry of External Affairs Dammu Ravi represented India at the crucial meeting. The BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Iran, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. "The ministers expressed grave concern at the deterioration of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, in particular the unprecedented escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip as a result of the Israeli military operation that led to mass civilian displacement, death and casualties," a joint ..

Blinken pushes Israel on postwar Gaza plans as pressure mounts on Hamas

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged top Israeli officials on Monday to accept and implement a plan for postwar Gaza as he pushed for more international pressure on Hamas to agree to a cease-fire proposal newly endorsed by the UN Security Council. On his latest urgent mission to the Middle East his eighth since the Israel-Hamas war began in October Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to push the proposal, which faces new uncertainty following Israel's hostage rescue operation that killed many Palestinians and turmoil in Netanyahu's government. Blinken told Netanyahu that the United States and other world leaders will stand behind the comprehensive proposal outlined by President Biden that would lead to an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and a significant and sustained increase in humanitarian assistance for distribution ...

UNSC approves US-drafted proposal supporting ceasefire in Gaza war

The resolution was notably adopted with 14 votes in favor, zero against, and one abstention by Russia, as the country chose not to exercise its veto power

Israel rescues 4 hostages from Hamas; is ceasefire deal now a prospect?

Israel's dramatic weekend rescue of four hostages from deep inside an urban area of the Gaza Strip came at a sensitive time in the 8-month-old war, as Israel and Hamas weigh a US proposal for a cease-fire and the release of the remaining captives. Both sides face renewed pressure to make a deal: The complex rescue is unlikely to be replicated on a scale needed to bring back scores of remaining hostages, and it was a powerful reminder for Israelis that there are still surviving captives held in harsh conditions. Hamas now has four fewer bargaining chips. But they could also dig in, as they repeatedly have over months of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Hamas is still insisting on an end to the war as part of any agreement, while Israel says it is still committed to destroying the militant group. Here is a look at the fallout from the operation and how it might affect cease-fire talks: ELATION, AND MOUNTING CALLS FOR A DEAL The rescue operation w

Blinken back in Mideast as Israel-Hamas ceasefire proposal hangs in balance

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to the Middle East this week as a proposed Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal hangs in the balance after the dramatic rescue of four Israeli hostages held in Gaza in a major military raid and turmoil in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government. With no firm response yet from Hamas to the proposal received 10 days ago, Blinken on Monday will start his eighth diplomatic mission to the region since the conflict began in October. He will meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi in Cairo before travelling to Israel, Jordan and Qatar. While President Joe Biden, Blinken and other US officials have praised the hostage rescue, the operation resulted in the deaths of a large number of Palestinian civilians that may complicate the cease-fire push by emboldening Israel and hardening Hamas' resolve to carry on fighting in the war it initiated with its October 7 attacks in Israel. It's hard to say how Hamas will process this particular ...

Israeli govt extends ban on Al Jazeera operations by another 45 days

Regarding the ban, the Israeli minister asserted, saying that it was unanimously adopted by the government, based on updated opinions from all security sources

'274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages'

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli air and ground raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas. The ministry said Sunday that around 700 people were wounded in Saturday's operation. The operation deep into central Gaza was the largest rescue operation since October 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed across the border, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. Israel launched a massive offensive in response that has killed over 36,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials. Israelis celebrated the return of Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41, after Israeli forces raided two locations at once while under fire.

Israel rescues 4 hostages in Gaza raid; Hamas says 210 Palestinians killed

Israel said Saturday it rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on October 7. The army said it rescued Noa Argamani,25, Almog Meir Jan 21, Andrey Kozlov 27, and Shlomi Ziv (40), in a complex special daytime operation in Nuseirat. The hostages were rescued in two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat, it said. Hamas kidnapped some 250 hostages during its attack on southern Israel on October 7. About half were released in a week-long cease-fire in November. Israel says more than 130 hostages remain, with about a quarter of those believed dead, and divisions are deepening in the country over the best way to bring them home. Saturday's operation is the largest recovery of alive hostages since the war erupted, bringing the total of rescued captives to seven.

US making biggest push to halt Israel, Hamas fighting. Is it succeeding?

In Middle East capitals, at the United Nations, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the eight-month-old war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a cease-fire and release of more hostages. But one week into the U.S. pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the cease-fire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working, by moving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders toward a negotiating breakthrough. For Israel and Hamas, the U.S. diplomatic press has become a public test of whether either side is ready to stop fighting at least on any terms that fall short of their professed goals, whether it's the complete crushing of the militant group or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. For Biden, who describes the proposal as Israeli, it's the latest high-profile test of U.S. leadership in trying to convin

Israel, Hamas to be listed for violations of children's rights, says UN

The UN secretary-general will list Israel and Hamas as violating the rights and protection of children in armed conflict in an upcoming annual report to the Security Council. According to the preface of last year's report, lists parties engaged in the killing and maiming of children" and in attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons in relation to schools and/or hospitals. The head of Secretary-General Antnio Guterres' office, Courtenay Rattray, called Israel's UN Ambassador, Gilad Erdan, on Friday to inform him that Israel would be listed on the next report when it is sent to the council within a few weeks, UN spokesman Stphane Dujarric told reporters. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad also are being listed. Israel reacted with outrage, sending news organisations a video of Erdan berating Rattray, supposedly on the other end of a phone call.

Israel's army targets 'Hamas compound' in school; media says 39 killed

Israel's military said Thursday it targeted what it called a Hamas compound inside of a school in the Gaza Strip, an attack Hamas-affiliated media there reported killed at least 39 people. Information about the strike in the Nuseirat area remained contradictory Thursday morning, and The Associated Press could not immediately independently confirm details about the strike. Hamas' al-Aqsa television broadcaster offered the death toll, without offering a source for the figures. The Israeli military said its fighter jets struck the school run by the United Nations agency providing aid to the Palestinians, known by the acronym UNRWA. The Israeli military claimed, without immediately offering evidence, that Hamas and the Islamic Jihad used the school as cover for their operations. Before the strike, a number of steps were taken to reduce the risk of harming uninvolved civilians during the strike, including conducting aerial surveillance, and additional intelligence information, the Isra

In apparent blow to Biden's plan, Hamas leader demands full end to Gaza war

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said there would be no let-up in Israel's offensive while negotiations over the ceasefire proposal were under way

Over 1 mn in Gaza could face highest level of starvation by mid-July: UN

United Nations agencies warned Wednesday that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue. The World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a joint report that hunger is worsening because of heavy restrictions on humanitarian access and the collapse of the local food system in the nearly eight-month Israel-Hamas war. It says the situation remains dire in northern Gaza, which has been surrounded and largely isolated by Israeli troops for months. Israel recently opened land crossings in the north but they are only able to facilitate truck loads in the dozens each day for hundreds of thousands of people. Israel's incursion into Rafah has meanwhile severely disrupted aid operations in the south. Egypt has refused to open its Rafah crossing with Gaza since Israeli forces seized the Gaza side of it nearly a month ago, instead diverting aid to Israel's Kerem Shalom crossin

US urges UNSC to support cease-fire plan in Gaza announced by Biden

The United States urged the UN Security Council on Monday to support the three-phase plan announced by President Joe Biden aimed at ending the nearly eight-month war in Gaza, freeing all hostages and sending massive aid into the devastated territory. US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the United States circulated a draft resolution to the 14 other council members to back the proposal for ending the conflict that began with Hamas' surprise attack in southern Israel on October 7 that killed some 1,200 people, mostly Israeli civilians. Numerous leaders and governments, including in the region, have endorsed this plan and we call on the Security Council to join them in calling for implementation of this deal without delay and without further conditions, she said in a statement. The brief draft resolution, obtained by The Associated Press, would welcome the May 31 deal announced by Biden and call on Hamas to accept it fully and implement its terms without delay and without ...