Page 108 - Israel-palestine

Average Gazan living on 2 pieces of bread a day, scarce water: UN official

The average Gazan is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the UN had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is Water, water, the Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday. Thomas White, who said he travelled the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks, described the place as a "scene of death and destruction. No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families. The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the UN's 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza. But, he said, now people are beyond looking for bread. It's looking for water. UN deputy Mideast coordinator Lynn Hastings, who is also the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said only one of three water supply lines from Israel is

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UK PM Rishi Sunak, Modi discuss Israel-Gaza conflict, FTA progress

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday afternoon during which both leaders discussed the need to de-escalate tensions and the importance of protecting innocent civilians in the Israel-Gaza conflict, Downing Street said. The phone call centred around the situation in the Middle East but also covered bilateral ties and the progress being made towards an ambitious deal in the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations. The leaders discussed the deeply distressing situation in the Middle East and condemned Hamas's attacks on Israel, said a Downing Street spokesperson in a readout of the call. They reiterated that Hamas did not represent the Palestinian people and reflected on the need to de-escalate tensions in the wider region. The Prime Minister (Sunak) also underscored the importance of protecting innocent civilians in Gaza and ensuring aid was able to flow into the country, the spokesperson said. Turning to the friendship ..

Nasrallah threatens escalation as Netanyahu rules out cease fire in Gaza

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Friday that his powerful militia is engaged in unprecedented cross-border fighting with Israel and threatened escalation. In a widely anticipated speech, Hassan Nasrallah stopped short of announcing that Hezbollah is fully engaging in the Israel-Hamas war. Nasrallah said in a televised speech that the fighting on the Lebanon-Israel border would not be limited to the scale seen until now. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a temporary cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying he will press ahead with a devastating military offensive until hostages held by the Hamas militant group are released. Netanyahu spoke on Friday shortly after meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who pressed Israel for a temporary pause in its offensive in order to improve humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Blinken also urged Israel to do more to protect civilians from its attacks. In a statement to reporters on Friday, Netanyahu said Israel is

Israel's encirclement of Gaza city tightens as top US diplomat arrives

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Israel on Friday to press for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into besieged Gaza, while Israeli troops tightened their encirclement of Gaza City, the focus of Israel's campaign to crush the enclave's ruling Hamas group. On the northern border with Lebanon, tensions continued to escalate ahead of a speech planned later Friday by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, his first public comments since Hamas attacked Israel last month, stoking fears the conflict could become a regional one. On Thursday, Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, attacked Israeli positions in the north with drones, mortar fire and suicide drones. The Israeli military said it retaliated with warplanes and helicopter gunships. Since the Gaza war began October 7, Hezbollah has been taking calculated steps to keep Israel's military busy on its border with Lebanon, but so far nothing of the extent to ignite an all-out war. More than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in Ga

Top US law firms ask Harvard, Yale to take clear stance on antisemitism

Antisemitic incidents have soared since the war began, and the conflict has bitterly divided dozens of campuses, including Harvard University, Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania

US approves $14.5 bn aid for Israel as Biden vows to veto GOP approach

The House approved $14.5 billion in military aid Thursday for Israel, a muscular US response to the war with Hamas but also a partisan approach by new Speaker Mike Johnson that poses a direct challenge to Democrats and President Joe Biden. In a departure from norms, Johnson's package required that the emergency aid be offset with cuts in government spending elsewhere. That tack established the new House GOP's conservative leadership, but it also turned what would typically be a bipartisan vote into one dividing Democrats and Republicans. Biden has said he would veto the bill, which was approved on a largely party-line vote. Johnson, R-La, said the Republican package would provide Israel with the assistance needed to defend itself, free hostages held by Hamas and eradicate the militant Palestinian group, accomplishing "all of this while we also work to ensure responsible spending and reduce the size of the federal government." Democrats said that approach would only delay help for ..

US has Israel's back, but has responsibility to protect civilians: Blinken

"Hamas deliberately uses civilians as human shields and puts weaponry underneath schools and hospitals making the task incredibly challenging but one has to rise to that responsibility," said Blinken

US President Biden calls for humanitarian 'pause' in Israel-Hamas war

President Joe Biden said he thought there should be a humanitarian pause in the Israel-Hamas war, after his campaign speech Wednesday evening was interrupted by a protester calling for a cease-fire. I think we need a pause, Biden said. The call was a subtle departure for Biden and top White House aides, who throughout the Mideast crisis have been steadfast in stating they will not dictate how the Israelis carry out their military operations in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas. But the president has faced intensifying pressure from human rights groups, fellow world leaders and even liberal members of his own Democratic Party, who say that the Israeli bombardment of Gaza is collective punishment and that it is time for a cease-fire. In his comments, Biden was exerting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give Palestinians at least a brief reprieve from the relentless military operation that's left thousands dead and mired the 141-square-mile strip in a ..

Efforts to pause fighting gain steam as Israeli troops push toward Gaza

Israel's ground troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the US and Arab countries intensified diplomatic efforts to ease the siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and bring about at least a brief stop to the fighting to help civilians. President Joe Biden suggested a humanitarian pause on Wednesday, as hundreds of foreign passport holders and wounded Palestinians were allowed out of Gaza for the first time, exiting via Egypt's Rafah crossing. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected back in the region on Friday. Arab countries, including those allied with the US and at peace with Israel, have expressed mounting unease with the war. Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel and told Israel's envoy to remain out of the country until there's a halt to the war and the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing. More than 3,600 Palestinian children have been killed in 25 days of fighting, as bombings have driven hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and food, water and

Blinken will enter diplomatic maelstrom over Gaza war on new Mideast trip

Just weeks after a frenzied trip to the Middle East, Secretary of State Antony Blinken is returning to the region with a somewhat more nuanced message than he offered in the immediate aftermath of Hamas' bloody October 7 attack on Israel and Israel's military response. As he did last month, Blinken will stress U.S. support for Israel and try to prevent a wider Mideast war as he visits Israel and Jordan starting on Friday. But Blinken's agenda this time is more crowded and more complex as the conflict intensifies and the Biden administration grapples with competing domestic and international interests and anger. He'll push for the evacuation of more foreigners from Gaza and more humanitarian aid for the territory. He'll press Israel to rein in violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank committed by Jewish settlers. And, he'll stress the importance of protecting civilians even though the administration has yet to offer any criticism of Israel for strikes that have killed

Cyprus to ship humanitarian aid directly to Gaza, UN personnel to pickup

Cyprus offered more detail Wednesday on its initiative to create a sea corridor for the steady flow of humanitarian assistance from Cyprus to Gaza, saying that aid-laden ships would sail directly to the enclave, where United Nations personnel would receive it for eventual distribution. Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saw the initiative in a positive light during a long telephone conversation Tuesday evening with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides. Cyprus is still sketching out with fellow European Union member countries and Arab states the logistical details of its plan to ferry aid from its main port of Limassol to Gaza once conditions on the ground permit it. Ships would be vetted at the point of departure at the Limassol port to ensure that nothing would be transported that could be weaponised by Hamas to use against Israel. Gaza's humanitarian needs have escalated since the Israel-Hamas war erupted ..

Gaza's phone, internet cut off again as Israeli troops battle Hamas

Palestinians reported another widespread outage of internet and phone service in Gaza early Wednesday, hours after Israeli air strikes levelled apartment buildings near Gaza City and as ground troops battled Hamas militants inside the besieged territory. The Palestinian telecoms company Paltel reported a complete disruption of internet and mobile phone services in Gaza, marking the second time in five days that residents were largely cut off from the world. Communications also went down over the weekend, as Israeli troops pushed into Gaza in larger numbers. Humanitarian aid agencies have warned that such blackouts severely disrupt their work in an already dire situation in Gaza, where more than half of the population of 2.3 million Palestinians has been displaced and basic supplies are running low more than three weeks into the war triggered by Hamas' bloody October 7 rampage into southern Israel. Attempts to reach Gaza residents by phone were unsuccessful early Wednesday. ...

Critical to ensure Palestinians not forcibly displaced: US to Jordan

As Israel defends its citizens and fights terrorists, Biden emphasised the significance of upholding international humanitarian law and preserving civilian life

Asian factories grapple with rising costs amid ongoing Israel-Hamas war

The data are a discouraging sign for the global economy, which has seen its bid for recovery threatened by uncertainty over the Israel-Hamas war and the prospect of wider conflict in the region

US, Israel weigh peacekeepers for Gaza strip after Hamas amid war

"Between those shoals are a variety of possible permutations that we're looking at very closely now, as are other countries," Blinken said

US to send 300 additional troops to Middle East amid ongoing war: Pentagon

The region monitored by US encompasses 20 countries, including Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula and northern Red Sea, and the five republics of Central Asia

US State Secy Blinken to visit Israel on Friday as war with Hamas continues

On October 16, Antony Blinken arrived in Israel, the second time within a few days, to pledge support for the country as it continued its counter-offensive against Hamas

Int'l humanitarian law no a la carte menu, can't be applied selectively: UN

He reiterated his call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and humanitarian access to be granted consistently to meet the urgent needs created by the catastrophe unfolding in Gaza

LIVE: As geopolitical tensions rise, divisions becoming deeper, says UN

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