Page 44 - Hamas

Netanyahu to Gaza hostage families: Hamas has not made a solid deal offer

"I am saying this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect statements which are certainly agonising for you," Netanyahu added

Israel's plan to destroy Hamas not working, peace talks needed: EU officia

EU officials concede that Israeli officials and diplomats currently evince no interest in the so-called two-state solution but insist it is the only option for long-term peace

Death toll soars past 25K in Gaza with no end in sight to Israel-Hamas war

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza from over three months of war between Israel and the territory's Hamas rulers has soared past 25,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday. At least 178 bodies were brought to Gaza's hospitals in 24 hours along with nearly 300 wounded people, according to Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra. The war began with Hamas' surprise attack into Israel on October 7, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage, including men, women and children. Israel responded with a three-week air campaign and then a ground invasion into northern Gaza that flattened entire neighbourhoods. Ground operations are now focused on the southern city of Khan Younis and built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

In strategic bind, Israel weighs freeing hostages against destroying Hamas

Government's two main goals are mutually incompatible, say military commanders

Iran launches satellite that is part of Western-criticised programme

Iran on said Saturday it had conducted a successful satellite launch into its highest orbit yet, the latest for a program the West fears improves Tehran's ballistic missiles. The announcement comes as heightened tensions grip the wider Middle East over Israel's ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and just days after Iran and Pakistan engaged in tit-for-tat airstrikes in each others' countries. The Soraya satellite was placed in an orbit at some 750 kilometers (460 miles) above the Earth's surface with a three-stage rocket, the state-run IRNA news agency said. It did not immediately acknowledge what the satellite did. The launch was part of Iran's Revolutionary Guards' space programme alongside Iran's civilian space program, the report said. There was no immediate independent confirmation Iran had successfully put the satellite in orbit. The United States has previously said Iran's satellite launches defy a UN Security Council resolution and called on Tehran to undertake no ...

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas protest outside Netanyahu's home

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza protested on Saturday outside the home of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing frustration over his government's seeming lack of progress in getting the more than 100 captives released as the war in Gaza drags on. A group representing families of the hostages said they had "begged for 105 days" and now demanded that the government show leadership and take bold steps to free the hostages. A member of Israel's War Cabinet has called a cease-fire the only way to secure their release, a comment that implied criticism of Israel's current strategy. The protest outside the prime minister's home and the remark by former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot were among signs of growing strife in Israel over the direction of the war in its fourth month. Netanyahu has said he will push for complete victory against Hamas but has not outlined how he would achieve it. Critics have accused him of preventing a Cabinet-level debate about a ...

Women and children main victims of Israel-Hamas war with 16,000 killed: UN

Women and children are the main victims in the Israel-Hamas war, with some 16,000 killed and an estimated two mothers losing their lives every hour since Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, the United Nations agency promoting gender equality said Friday. As a result of the more than 100-day conflict, UN Women added, at least 3,000 women may have become widows and heads of households and at least 10,000 children may have lost their fathers. In a report released Friday, the agency pointed to gender inequality and the burden on women fleeing the fighting with children and being displaced again and again. Of the territory's 2.3 million population, it said, 1.9 million are displaced and close to one million are women and girls seeking shelter and safety. UN Women's executive director, Sima Bahous, said this is a cruel inversion of fighting during the 15 years before the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. Previously, she said, 67% of all civilians killed in Gaza and the West Bank were men and less the

Non-Aligned Movement leaders denounce Israel's military campaign in Gaza

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after the Islamist militant group Hamas' Oct. 7 attack in which Israeli officials say more than 1,200 Israelis and foreigners were killed and 240 taken hostage

Rifts emerge among Israeli officials over handling of war in Gaza: Report

Rifts are emerging among top Israeli officials over the handling of the war against Hamas in Gaza. A member of the country's War Cabinet cast doubt over the strategy for releasing hostages, and the country's prime minister rejected the United States' calls to scale back its offensive. Only a cease-fire deal can win the release of dozens of hostages still held by Islamic militants in Gaza, and claims they could be freed by other means was spreading illusions", said former army chief Gadi Eisenkot, one of four members of the War Cabinet, in his first public statements on the course of the war. Eisenkot's comments late Thursday were the latest sign of disagreement among political and military leaders over the direction of Israel's offensive on Hamas, now in its fourth month. Sparked by an unprecedented October 7 Hamas raid into Israel that killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw about 250 others taken hostage, the Israeli assault has pulverised much of the Gaza Strip, home

'Boycott Mcdonald's' trends as UK unit issues statement on Israel-Hamas war

Besides McDonald's, several Western brands have been facing the heat over the issue, including prominent names such as Starbucks, Puma, and Hewlett Packard, among others for their "support for Israel"

Over 9,000 terrorists eliminated in Gaza since beginning of war: Israel

The IDF has also eliminated two out of Hamas' five brigade-level commanders, the army announced. In addition, 19 battalion-level commanders and 50 company commanders were killed

China calls for Gaza peace talks; Hamas to tell fate of Israeli hostages

Hamas aired video showing three Israeli hostages it is holding in Gaza and urged the Israeli government to stop the offensive against the Palestinian Islamist group and bring about their release

It's right time for Israel to scale back war as conflict hits 100 days: US

The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war

Israel cabinet passes amended 2024 budget, allocates $15 bn for war in Gaza

Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the Gaza war has shaken up government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending

Gaza needs more aid to arrive faster to prevent famine, disease: UN

Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease, the heads of three major UN agencies warned Monday, as authorities in the enclave reported that the death toll in the Israel-Hamas war had surpassed 24,000. While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery is hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continuing fighting throughout the territory all of which Israel plays a deciding factor in. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, sparked by the militant group's Oct 7 attack on southern Israel, has prompted unprecedented destruction in the tiny coastal enclave and triggered a humanitarian catastrophe that has displaced most of Gaza's 2.3 million population and pushed more than a quarter into starvation, according to the UN. Civilians have become desperate. Video posted Monday to X by Al Jazeera showed hundreds of people

Netanyahu vows to keep fight against Hamas on as war hits 100-day mark

Israeli statements exposed a growing dissonance between the domestic perception of the timing and goals of the war and increasing international impatience in the face of a deepening crisis in Gaza

Israel cabinet set to vote on 2024 wartime budget, higher deficit

Israel last year approved a two-year budget for 2023 and 2024, but the war against Hamas in Gaza has shaken government finances, requiring budget changes and additional spending

No one can halt Israel's war to crush Hamas, including world court: PM

Israel will pursue its war against Hamas until victory and will not be stopped by anyone, including the world court, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a defiant speech on Saturday, as the fighting in Gaza approached the 100-day mark. Netanyahu spoke after the International Court of Justice at The Hague held two days of hearings on South Africa's allegations that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, a charge Israel has rejected as libelous and hypocritical. South Africa asked the court to order Israel to halt its blistering air and ground offensive in an interim step. "No one will stop us, not The Hague, not the axis of evil and not anyone else," Netanyahu said in televised remarks on Saturday evening, referring to Iran and its allied militias. The case before the world court is expected to go on for years but a ruling on interim steps could come within weeks. Court rulings are binding but difficult to enforce. Netanyahu made clear that Israel would ignore orde

Oil jumps 4% as tankers avoid Red Sea after US-UK joint strikes on Houthis

Brent crude futures were up $3.16, or 4.1%, at $80.57 a barrel at 1124 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed $3.05, or 4.2%, to $75.07

What is Genocide Convention, basis of South Africa's case against Israel

South Africa has contended that Israel violated the Genocide Convention as "it failed to prevent genocide and failed to prosecute direct and overt incitement to genocide" in its ongoing Gaza offensive