South Africa brought the case to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) earlier this month, asking it to grant emergency measures to halt the fighting, which has killed more than 26,000 Palestinians
'Israelis don't want to fly to South Africa,' said an El Al spokesperson. "They are cancelling flights and planes are pretty empty... We understand it's the situation because it was different before
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas is impacting the safety of maritime commercial traffic in the Indian Ocean, including some attacks in the vicinity of India, a top Indian diplomat told members of the UN Security Council on Tuesday. The ongoing conflict is also impacting the safety of maritime commercial traffic in the Indian Ocean, including some attacks in the vicinity of India, R Ravindra, the Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations said in his remarks during a UNSC Open Debate on the Middle East. This is a matter of great concern to the international community and has a direct bearing on India's own energy and economic interests. This fraught situation is not to the benefit of any party, and this must be clearly recognised, Ravindra said. Ravindra said the message that India has conveyed since the start of this conflict is clear and consistent it is important to prevent escalation, to ensure continued delivery of humanitaria
'The declarations of Benjamin Netanyahu are worrying. There will be a need for a Palestinian state with security guarantees for all,' French Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne told reporters
The developments showed the increasing pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has dug in on both fronts
Their conversation came a day after the Israeli leader rejected calls from the US and Arab nations for the Palestinian Authority to rule Gaza after the war with Hamas
"I am saying this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect statements which are certainly agonising for you," Netanyahu added
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
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.
Government's two main goals are mutually incompatible, say military commanders
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 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 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
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 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
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"
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
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
The comments exposed the growing differences between the close allies on the 100th day of the war
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