Page 73 - Hamas

Operation Ajay: Flight carrying 212 Indians from Israel lands in Delhi

MoS Chandrasekhar welcomed the passengers at the Delhi airport as they streamed into the lounge area from the tarmac side

As Israel battles Hamas, all eyes are on Hezbollah, the wild card on north

Will Lebanon's heavily armed Hezbollah militia join the Israel-Hamas war? The answer could well determine the direction of a battle that is bound to reshape the Middle East. Hezbollah, which like Hamas is supported by Iran, has so far been on the fence about joining the fighting between Israel and the Gaza Strip's Islamic militant rulers. For the past six days, Israel has besieged Gaza and hammered the enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians with hundreds of airstrikes in response to a deadly Hamas attack on southern Israel. Israel, which has vowed to crush Hamas, is now preparing for a possible ground offensive. While the country's political and military leaders weigh the next move, they are nervously watching Hezbollah on Israel's northern border and have sent troop reinforcements to the area. Hezbollah, with an arsenal of tens of thousands of rockets and missiles capable of hitting virtually anywhere in Israel, is viewed as a far more formidable foe than Hamas. Israel is anxious that

Trump's criticism of Netanyahu draws strong condemnation from GOP rivals

Several of former President Donald Trump's Republican rivals denounced him on Thursday for lashing out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu days after Hamas' deadly attack, a rare moment in which multiple competitors directly criticised the GOP front-runner. Trump at a rally Wednesday night said Netanyahu let us down just before the U.S. killed top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020. He also said Israeli leaders needed to step up their game" and referred to Hezbollah, the group Israel fears may launch a large-scale attack from the country's north, as very smart. In an interview that aired Thursday, he added to his criticism, saying Netanyahu was not prepared" for the deadly weekend incursion from Gaza. Now is not the time to be attacking our ally," said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of Trump's 2024 rivals, echoing denunciations from the White House and elsewhere. More than 2,700 people are dead on both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, and Hamas is believed to have ..

Zionist in my heart: US President's devotion to Israel faces a new test

Joe Biden had been to Dachau, the infamous concentration camp in Germany, several times before, but he sensed changes when he visited as vice president with a teenaged granddaughter. It seemed as though things had been rearranged to make visitors less uncomfortable," he recalled in a memoir published two years after the 2015 visit. "They had softened the cruel edges over the years. Unwilling to settle for what he believed was a more sanitised experience, Biden asked the guides to bring them to the gas chamber, where they slammed the door behind us with a frightening clank. For Biden, it's a direct line from there to the Hamas attacks on Israel, which caused the largest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust. In a searing speech from the White House, Biden said the bloodshed "brought to the surface painful memories and the scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and genocide of the Jewish people. The massacres and kidnappings have sparked a crisis that threatens t

US, Qatar agree to prevent disbursal of recently unfrozen Iranian funds

The U.S. and Qatar have reached an agreement that the Qataris will not act on any request from Tehran for the time being to access USD 6 billion in Iranian funds that were unblocked as part of a prisoner swap last month, a U.S. official said Thursday. The move, which stops short of a full refreezing of Iranian funds in Qatar's banking system, follows the deadly attacks by Hamas on Israel and continued Republican criticism of the Biden administration's deal with Iran, in which USD 6 billion was unfrozen in exchange for the release of five detained Americans. The official who outlined the understanding between the U.S. and Qatar was not authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials have strenuously pushed back against the criticism, noting that the money had yet to be spent by Iran and can only be used for humanitarian needs. None of the funds that have now gone to Qatar have actually been spent or accessed in any way by Iran, Secretary of State Antony ...

Israel-Hamas war: EU asks X for information on hate speech, illegal content

The European Commission on Thursday made a formal, legally binding request for information from Elon Musk's social media platform X over its handling of hate speech, misinformation and violent terrorist content related to the Israel-Hamas war. It is the first step in what could become the EU's inaugural investigation under the Digital Services Act, in this case to determine if the site formerly known as Twitter is in compliance with the tough new rules meant to keep users safe online and stop the spread of harmful content. San Francisco-based X has until Wednesday to respond to questions related to how its crisis response protocol is functioning. Responses to other questions must be received by Oct 31. The commission said its next steps, which could include the opening of formal proceedings and penalties, would be determined by X's replies. Representatives for X did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. The company's CEO, Linda Yaccarino, said earlier that the site h

At least 45 Palestinians killed in Israeli strike on refugee camp

Gaza's interior ministry on Thursday said that an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the densely populated Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza has killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more. Eyad Bozum, the spokesperson of the interior ministry, told The Associated Press that a late afternoon airstrike hit the al-Shihab family house at the center of the Jabaliya camp. The al-Shihab house was packed with dozens of relatives at the time of the airstrike. Some family members had fled heavy bombing from other parts of the strip and taken refuge there. Bozum said the death toll was likely to rise from that airstrike, because civil defence workers were still pulling bodies from the rubble and counting the dead.

US has no plans to send troops to Israel following attack: White House

The US has no plans to send troops to Israel, White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. There is no intention, no plan, and frankly, no desire by the Israelis, he said. Kirby also said there have been ongoing conversations with Israel about the continued need for continued flow of humanitarian assistance" into Gaza. He said establishing corridors to provide safe passage out of Gaza for civilians is the right thing to do for innocent victims who are actually being held hostage as well by Hamas.

Can't deny that Hamas attack was because of Israel-Gaza war: Chidambaram

Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Thursday said it cannot be denied that the terrorist attack by Hamas was the cause of the Israel-Gaza war and asserted that the immediate task at hand was to stop the violence and his party had issued a statement and adopted a resolution in that context. In a post on X, Chidambaram said the Israel-Gaza war threatens to escalate and cause more deaths on both sides. "It cannot be denied that the terrorist attack by Hamas was the cause of this war. Hamas has earned the world's condemnation," he said. The former Union minister said that the massive retaliation by Israel against Gaza has intensified the violence. Apart from soldiers, hundreds of civilians including women and children have been killed, he noted. Violence does not solve anything and it certainly will not solve the decades-old enmity between Israel and the de facto rulers of Gaza, he said. "The immediate task at hand is to stop the violence. It is in the context of stopping the viol

US defence secy to visit Israel to discuss military aid following attack

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin plans to visit Israel on Friday, the second high-level US official to visit Tel Aviv in two days, in a deliberate show of support and an effort to determine what additional military aid is needed in the war with Hamas. Austin is expected to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, said a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive travel details Austin's arrival comes just a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited and vowed American support for Israel in a meeting with Netanyahu. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Austin said the US is working urgently to get Israel what it needs to defend itself, including munitions and our iron Dome interceptor interceptors.

Iran Prez, Saudi Crown Prince hold 1st call since ties mended, discuss war

The leaders engaged in the discussion on Wednesday, emphasising "the need to end war crimes against Palestine," Iranian presidential political affairs aide

WTO chief warns of 'big impact' on trade if Israel-Hamas conflict widens

"Everybody's on eggshells and hoping for the best," she said

UK PM Sunak deploys Royal Navy ships to support Israel against Hamas

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has directed UK military assets to be deployed to the eastern Mediterranean to support Israel, reinforce regional stability and prevent escalation, Downing Street announced in London on Thursday. A Royal Navy task group will be moved to the eastern Mediterranean next week as a contingency measure to support humanitarian efforts and maritime patrol and surveillance aircraft will begin flying in the region from Friday to track threats to regional stability such as the transfer of weapons to terrorist groups. The military package, which includes P8 aircraft, surveillance assets, two Royal Navy ships RFA Lyme Bay and RFA Argus three merlin helicopters and a company of Royal Marines, will be on standby to deliver practical support to Israel and partners in the region, and offer deterrence and assurance. We must be unequivocal in making sure the types of horrific scenes we have seen this week will not be repeated. Alongside our allies, the deployment o

'Burned by Hamas monsters': Israel PM shares pics of babies killed in war

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on a trip to show solidarity with Israel, help prevent the conflict from spreading and try to free hostages

Blinken vows support for Israel, says Hamas does not represent Palestinians

The US will never falter from its support for Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday but underlined the importance of taking "every possible precaution to avoid harming civilians" as the Israeli military prepares for a "next stage" of the war against Hamas militants in Gaza. "No country can or would tolerate the slaughter of its citizens or simply return to the conditions that allowed it to take place. Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again," Blinken told reporters while speaking alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv. Blinken also reiterated that respect for civilian life is what distinguishes democracies from the likes of Hamas, saying, "As the Prime Minister and I discussed, how Israel does this matters." Blinken also stressed that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people. "This was just one of Hamas' countless acts of terror. It brings to mind the worst of ISIS

Operation Ajay begins: First group of 230 Indians from Tel Aviv heads home

An Air India B-787 plane departed from Delhi airport at 5 pm for the mission. The airline is scheduled to operate a total of seven flights till October 18 under 'Operation Ajay'

Brace for volatility

A combination of factors can keep stock prices volatile

LIVE updates: India drops further in Global Hunger Index rankings

Catch all the latest updates LIVE from across the globe here

"Operation Ajay" launched to rescue Indians in Israel

India announced the launch "Operation Ajay" on October 11 to help Indians stuck in Israel to return home as fresh tension triggered in the region as Hamas militants made a series of brazen attacks

Israel minister threatens no humanitarian aid to Gaza till abductees return

According to Palestinian sources, over 1,350 people have died and more than 5,000 have been injured as a result of Israel's air raids on the Gaza Strip