Page 39 - Hamas

McDonald's to buy Israel franchise that became flashpoint in Hamas war

Alonyal launched the McDonald's brand in Israel more than 30 years ago and grew the business to 225 restaurants and more than 5,000 employees, according to a statement from the Chicago-based chain

Gaza war has caused $18.5 billion in infrastructure damage, finds study

'The shock to Gaza's economy as a result of the ongoing conflict is one of the largest observed in recent economic history,' according to the report

'Outraged, heartbroken': Biden blames Israel as strike kills 7 aid workers

Outraged over the killing of seven foreign nationals in an Israel strike, the White House has squarely blamed Israel and sternly asked it to stop casualties in its war against Hamas

US pushes alternatives to Rafah invasion against Hamas in talks with Israel

Top American and Israeli officials held virtual talks Monday as the US pushed alternatives to the ground assault against Hamas under consideration by Israelis in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a move the US opposes on humanitarian grounds and that has frayed relations between the two allies. President Joe Biden and his administration have publicly and privately urged Israel for months to refrain from a large-scale incursion into Rafah without a credible plan to relocate and safeguard noncombatants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that Israeli forces, which are trying to eradicate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, must be able to enter the city to root out the group's remaining battalions. The more than two-and-a-half-hour meeting by secure video conference was described by both sides as constructive and productive, as Washington encourages the Israelis to avoid an all-out assault on the city, where an estimated four battalions of Hamas fighters are ...

Israelis rally in anti-govt protest since Gaza war, urge hostages' release

Tens of thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October. They urged the government to reach a deal to free dozens of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza and to hold early elections. Nearly six months of war have renewed divisions in Israeli society. The Hamas militant group killed some 1,200 people during its cross-border attack on October 7, and took 250 others hostage. Roughly half the hostages were released during a weeklong cease-fire in November, but repeated attempts by international mediators to broker another cease-fire deal have failed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas and bring all the hostages home. But those goals have been elusive. While Hamas has suffered heavy losses, it remains intact, and hostages' families believe time is running out. After six months, it seems like the government understands that Bibi Netanyahu is an ..

Ultra-orthodox need to join military to help economy: Israel's central bank

In its 2023 annual report, the central bank said Israel's war against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza that began on October 7 had highlighted the personnel needs of the military

Around 9,000 Gaza patients in need of urgent evacuation abroad: WHO chief

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for hiding behind civilians in Gaza's hospitals and other medical facilities, accusations the militant group denies

Arab states ready to recognise Israel in future deal, says Joe Biden

Biden has faced pressure from progressives and Muslim and Arab Americans who want the administration to do more to rein in Israel's military campaign in Gaza to root out Hamas

US sanctions online media site Gaza Now, its founder for supporting Hamas

The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on online media site Gaza Now and its founder Mustafa Ayash for allegedly supporting Hamas. US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control says that after the October 7 attack by Hamas against Israel the online entity began a fundraising effort in support of the militant organisation. Gaza Now's Arabic channel has more than 300,000 followers on social media channel X, formerly known as Twitter, and a large following on the encrypted chat platform Telegram. Included in the sanctions are firms Al-Qureshi Executives and Aakhirah Ltd., and their director Aozma Sultana, who are alleged to have partnered on multiple fundraising efforts alongside Gaza Now. The sanctions were imposed in collaboration with the UK's Office of Foreign Sanctions Implementation. Treasury Under Secretary Brian Nelson said in a statement that the US and its partners "will continue to leverage our tools to disrupt Hamas' ability to facilitate further attacks. A representati

Israel, Hamas dig in as international pressure builds for ceasefire in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday blasted a UN Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire that his country's top ally, the US, chose not to block. He said the resolution had emboldened Hamas and he vowed to press ahead with the war. As the war grinds through a sixth month, both Israel and Hamas have rejected international cease-fire efforts, each insisting its version of victory is within reach. The passage of the UN resolution has also escalated tensions between the US and Israel over the conduct of the war. Netanyahu has said Israel can only achieve its aims of dismantling Hamas and returning scores of hostages if it expands its ground offensive to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza's population has sought refuge, many in crowded tent camps. The US has said a major assault on Rafah would be a mistake. Hamas says it will hold onto the hostages until Israel agrees to a more permanent cease-fire, withdraws its forces from Gaza and ..

Hamas rejects latest cease-fire proposal, says Israel ignoring key demands

Hamas has rejected the latest cease-fire proposal, accusing Israel of ignoring its core demands, which include an end to the war and a full withdrawal from Gaza. In a statement late Monday, the militant group said it had informed mediators that it was sticking to its original position, conveyed earlier in March. It said Israel had not responded to its core demands of a comprehensive cease-fire, an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Strip, the return of displaced people and a real prisoner exchange. The statement came shortly after the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and the release of all hostages held in Gaza. The vote provoked a clash between Israel and the United States, which decided not to use its veto power Monday. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a high-level delegation's planned visit to Washington. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas' demands, calling them delusion

It's time to 'truly flood' Gaza with aid, says UN Secy-General Guterres

UN Secretary-General Antnio Guterres stood near a long line of waiting trucks Saturday and declared it was time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid," calling the starvation inside the enclave a moral outrage. He called for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Guterres spoke on the Egyptian side of the border not far from the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where Israel plans to launch a ground assault despite widespread warnings of a potential disaster. More than half of Gaza's population has taken refuge there. Any further onslaught will make things even worse worse for Palestinian civilians, worse for hostages and worse for all people in the region," Guterres said. He spoke a day after the UN Security Council failed to reach consensus on the wording of a resolution supporting an immediate and sustained cease-fire. Guterres repeatedly noted the difficulties of getting aid into Gaza, for which international aid agencies have largely blamed Israel. Here from this ..

Here's why Israel is determined to launch offensive against Hamas in Rafah

Israel is determined to launch a ground offensive against Hamas in Rafah, Gaza's southernmost town, a plan that has raised global alarm because of the potential for harm to the hundreds of thousands of civilians sheltering there. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel can't achieve its goal of total victory against Hamas without tackling Rafah. Israel has approved military plans for its offensive. But with 1.4 million Palestinians jammed into the town, Israel's allies, including the US, have demanded greater care for civilians in its anticipated incursion. Most of those Palestinians have been displaced by fighting in other parts of Gaza and are living in densely packed tent camps or crammed into apartments. Netanyahu is sending a delegation to Washington to present the administration with its plans. WHY RAFAH IS SO CRITICAL Since Israel declared war in response to Hamas' deadly cross-border attack on October 7, Netanyahu has said a central goal is to destroy the Islamic gr

Deeply concerned about prospective Israeli operation in Rafah: Biden

US President Joe Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah on the lines of those in Gaza City and Khan Younis, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said. During his telephonic conversation with Biden on Monday, Netanyahu agreed to send an inter-agency team of Israeli officials to Washington to hold discussions on an alternative approach to target key Hamas elements in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and secure the Egypt-Gaza border without a major ground invasion, Sullivan said at his daily press conference on Monday. This was the first time in a month that the two leaders spoke on phone. Sullivan said Biden and Netanyahu spoke at length about Rafah. "The President explained why he is so deeply concerned about the prospect of Israel conducting major military operations in Rafah of the kind it conducted in Gaza City and Khan Younis," the NSA said. More than a

Double standards

Weapons to allies and aid to adversaries is self-defeating

Suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targets a ship in Gulf of Aden

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship early Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, potentially marking their latest assault on shipping through the crucial waterway leading to the Red Sea. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre offered few details in an announcement about the attack, saying only it happened off the coast of Aden, the port city in southern Yemen home to the country's exiled government. The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks in the same area, disrupting energy and cargo shipments through the Gulf of Aden. The rebels did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack, though it typically takes the Houthis several hours before acknowledging their assaults. Separately, the US military's Central Command said it carried out a series of strikes targeting the Houthis. It said it destroyed five drone boats and one drone before takeoff from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen on Saturday. It was an unusual

Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria, soldier wounded

Israeli airstrikes hit several sites in southern Syria early Sunday wounding a soldier, Syrian state media reported. State news agency SANA, citing an unnamed military official, said air defences shot down some of the missiles, which came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights at around 12:42 a.m. local time. The strikes led to material losses and the wounding of a soldier, the statement said. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said Israeli strikes also hit two military sites in the Qalamoun mountains northeast of Damascus, an area where the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah has operations. One of the targets was a weapons shipment, the observatory said. The observatory said the strikes represented the 24th time Israel has struck inside Syria since the beginning of 2024. They have killed 43 fighters with various groups including Hezbollah and Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and nine civilians. There was no .

Ship carrying 200 tonnes of aid approaches Gaza through new sea route

The ship, manned by the Spanish aid group Open Arms, left Cyprus on Tuesday towing a barge laden with food sent by World Central Kitchen, the charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres

UK govt notifies stricter, 'more precise' definition of extremism

The UK government on Thursday issued a new "more precise" definition of extremism in response to increased threats since the October 2023 Hamas terror attacks in Israel and to protect liberal democratic principles against extreme right-wing and Islamist extremists. Extremism in the UK is now defined as the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to: negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or undermine, overturn or replace the UK's system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in the first two categories. The previous definition, introduced in 2011 under the government's Prevent strategy, defined extremism as "vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and belief". UK Levelling Up and

Israel-Hamas conflict: Hezbollah fires 100+ rockets into Israel, tension escalates

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel on March 12. This heavy barrage raises fears of the Gaza Strip war spreading to a new front. Watch the video to know m