Page 17 - Israel-palestine

UK probes Bob Vylan's chants against Israeli army; US revokes band's visas

British police launched a criminal investigation Monday into a televised performance at the Glastonbury Festival by rap punk duo Bob Vylan, who drew intense criticism after they led crowds of music fans in chanting death to the Israeli military. Meanwhile, the US State Department said it has revoked the US visas for Bob Vylan, who were set to go on tour in the United States later this year, after their hateful tirade at Glastonbury. Rapper Bobby Vylan who until the weekend was relatively little known led crowds in chants of free, free Palestine and death, death to the IDF" the Israel Defence Forces on Saturday at Britain's biggest summer music festival. The BBC said it regretted livestreaming the performance. The antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves, the broadcaster said, adding that it respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and UK

74 killed in Gaza as Israeli forces strike cafe, fire on crowd seeking food

Israeli forces killed at least 74 people in Gaza on Monday with airstrikes that left 30 dead at a seaside cafe and gunfire that left 23 dead as Palestinians tried to get desperately needed food aid, witnesses and health officials said. One airstrike hit Al-Baqa Cafe in Gaza City when it was crowded with women and children, said Ali Abu Ateila, who was inside. Without a warning, all of a sudden, a warplane hit the place, shaking it like an earthquake, he said. Dozens were wounded, many critically, alongside at least 30 people killed, said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry's emergency and ambulance service in northern Gaza. Two other strikes on a Gaza City street killed 15 people, according to Shifa Hospital, which received the casualties. A strike on a building killed six people near the town of Zawaida, according to Al-Aqsa hospital. The cafe, one of the few businesses to continue operating during the 20-month war, was a gathering spot for residents seeking internet access a

Israeli man indicted for passing info to Iranian agent during wartime

The indictment states Liakhov began carrying out assignments for the Iranian agent while he was living in Latvia, before returning to Israel

Trump urges Gaza ceasefire deal amid signs of possible breakthrough

US President Donald Trump on Sunday pleaded for progress in ceasefire talks in the war in Gaza, calling for a deal that would halt the fighting in the 20-monthlong conflict as the sides appeared to be inching closer to an agreement. An Israeli official said plans were being made for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to travel to Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks, a sign there may be movement on a new deal. The official declined to discuss the focus of the visit and spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss plans that had not yet been finalized. MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!! Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social early Sunday between posts about a Senate vote on his tax and spending cuts bill. Trump raised expectations Friday for a deal, saying there could be a ceasefire agreement within the next week. Taking questions from reporters, he said, We're working on Gaza and trying to get it taken care of. Trump has repeatedly called for Israel and Ha

IDF claims to have killed Hamas mastermind behind October 2023 attack

The Israel Defense Forces has announced that they eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa--one of the founders of Hamas' military wing.The IDF in a late Saturday night post said that Issa was one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attack.In a post on X, the IDF said, "ELIMINATED: eliminated Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa--one of the founders of Hamas' military wing. Issa led Hamas' force build-up, training, and planned the October 7 massacre. As Head of Combat Support, he advanced aerial & naval attacks against Israelis. The IDF & ISA will continue to locate and eliminate all terrorists involved in the October 7 massacre."Meanwhile, as per Al Jazeera, Israel continued its attacks across the Gaza Strip, including an attack that killed at least 20 people, including nine children, in Gaza City's Tuffah neighbourhood.Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said he believes a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas could be reached within a week.Trump came out with the ...

Trump signals Gaza ceasefire 'close,' likely in a week amid renewed talks

Trump signals a possible ceasefire in Gaza within days, though Israel and Hamas remain at odds as US and regional efforts to end hostilities intensify

Netanyahu denies claim that troops have orders to shoot Gazans seeking aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz emphatically rejected a report in the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, which claimed Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites inside Gaza. They called the report's findings malicious falsehoods designed to defame the military. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Palestinian witnesses say Israeli troops have opened fire at crowds on the roads heading toward the sites. Reacting to the Haaretz piece, Israel's military confirmed that it was investigating incidents in which civilians had been harmed while approaching the sites. It rejected the article's allegations of deliberate fire toward civilians. The foundation, which is backed by an American private contractor, h

Israeli Military declares 3 Iranian nuclear sites 'significantly damaged'

In addition, the IDF said thousands of centrifuges, research and development sites, headquarters infrastructure and unique documentation of the nuclear program were destroyed

Israeli strike kills 18 in Gaza as turmoil mounts over food distribution

An Israeli strike hit a street in central Gaza on Thursday where witnesses said a crowd of people was getting bags of flour from a Palestinian police unit that had confiscated the goods from gangs looting aid convoys. Hospital officials said 18 people were killed. The strike was the latest violence surrounding the distribution of food to Gaza's population, which has been thrown into turmoil over the past month. After blocking all food for 2 1/2 months, Israel has allowed only a trickle of supplies into the territory since mid-May. Efforts by the United Nations to distribute the food have been plagued by armed gangs looting trucks and by crowds of desperate people offloading supplies from convoys. The strike in the central town of Deir al-Balah on Thursday appeared to target members of Sahm, a security unit tasked with stopping looters and cracking down on merchants who sell stolen aid at high prices. The unit is part of Gaza's Hamas-led Interior Ministry, but includes members of oth

After strikes on nuclear sites, Israel covertly intimidated Iran's elite

Israeli operatives reportedly reached out to over 20 key Iranian officials in a secret campaign supporting Israel's military strikes on nuclear sites and weapons production facilities

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Tarnished by Oct 7 attack, Netanyahu's legacy may be reshaped by Iran war

In the days after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct 7, 2023, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemed a shellshocked shadow of himself. He looked diminished and downtrodden by the surprise assault that created a national emergency and caused his public support to plummet. Now, as Israel faces another unprecedented crisis in a war with Iran, Netanyahu appears rejuvenated. With the US lending its support against a threat he has devoted his life to confronting, Netanyahu is demonstrating a resurgent confidence that could signal a new turning point in his lengthy political career. Even as Iranian missiles pound Israeli cities, Netanyahu, 75, has the chance to salvage his sagging political fortunes and reshape a legacy punctured by Hamas' attacks, a corruption trial and a history of divisive rule. If he succeeds, it will cement his reputation within Israel as a political wizard who can rise from the ashes. Netanyahu has proven that he is a phoenix, said veteran Israeli journalist and Netanyah

Israel says remains of three hostages have been recovered from Gaza

The Israeli military says it has recovered the remains of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip. It identified them as Yonatan Samerano, 21; Ofra Keidar, 70; and Shay Levinson, 19. Kobi Samerano said in a Facebook post that his son Yonatan, was killed during Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack and his body was taken into Gaza. Samerano said the remains were returned on what would have been his son's 23rd birthday.

Preparing for possibility of lengthy war against Iran, says Israel

Israel's military said Saturday it was preparing for the possibility of a lengthy war, and announced it struck an Iranian nuclear research facility overnight and killed three senior Iranian commanders in targeted attacks. The prospect of a wider war threatened, too. Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen said they would resume attacks on US vessels and warships in the Red Sea if the Trump administration joins Israel's military campaign against Iran. The Houthis paused such attacks in May under a deal with the US. The US ambassador to Israel announced the US has begun assisted departure flights, the first such flights from Israel since the Hamas-led attack on Oct 7, 2023, that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Inside Iran, smoke rose from an area near a mountain in Isfahan, where the province's deputy governor for security affairs, Akbar Salehi, confirmed the Israeli strikes damaged the facility but caused no casualties. The target was a centrifuge production site, Israel's military .

Sonia slams govt's silence on Gaza, Iran, calls it 'surrender of values'

Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday strongly criticised India's silence on Israel's devastation in Gaza and Iran as "not just a loss of its voice, but also a surrender of values". In an article - "It is still not too late for India's voice to be heard", she accused the Narendra Modi government of abandoning India's long-standing and principled commitment to a peaceful two-nation solution envisioning an independent Palestine along with Israel. Gandhi, in the article, was also critical of US President Donald Trump for following a "destructive path" in West Asia, after having spoken against America's endless wars. "New Delhi's silence on the devastation in Gaza and now on the unprovoked escalation against Iran reflects a disturbing departure from our moral and diplomatic traditions. This represents not just a loss of voice but also a surrender of values," the Congress leader said in her article in 'The Hindu'. "It is still not too late. India must speak .

Violence against children in conflict at unprecedented levels in 2024: UN

Violence against children caught in multiple and escalating conflicts reached unprecedented levels" last year, with the highest number of violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti, according to a United Nations report released late Thursday. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres' annual report on Children in Armed Conflict detailed a staggering 25% surge in grave violations against children under the age of 18 from 2023, when the number of such violations rose by 21%. In 2024, the UN chief said, Children bore the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks, and were affected by the disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements and by deepening humanitarian crises. He cited warfare strategies that included attacks on children, the deployment of increasingly destructive and explosive weapons in populated areas, and the systematic exploitation of children for combat. Guterres said the United Nations verified 41,370 grave violations against ...

Airlines forced to take longer detours as tensions rise in West Asia

The Iran-Israel conflict has added to the troubles faced by the aviation industry, which is already facing challenges after a Boeing 787 Dreamliner with Air India crashed in Ahmedabad on June 12

At least 51 killed and 200 wounded while waiting for aid trucks in Gaza

At least 51 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 wounded in the Gaza Strip while waiting for UN and commercial trucks to enter the territory with desperately needed food, according to Gaza's Health Ministry and a local hospital. Palestinian witnesses told The Associated Press that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd in the southern city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said soldiers had spotted a gathering near an aid truck that was stuck in Khan Younis, near where Israeli forces were operating. It acknowledged several casualties as Israelis opened fire on the approaching crowd and said authorities would investigate what happened. The shooting did not appear to be related to a new Israeli- and US-supported aid delivery network that rolled out last month and has been marred by controversy and violence. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian affairs, or OCHA, said the people killed were waiting for food .

Trump in dilemma as Israel seeks more US help to crush Iran's nuclear prog

President Donald Trump in about eight hours Monday went from suggesting a nuclear deal with Iran remained achievable to urging Tehran's 9.5 million residents to flee for their lives as he cut short his visit to an international summit to return to Washington for urgent talks with his national security team. He was expected to arrive at the White House early Tuesday at a moment of choosing in his presidency. Israel, with four days of missile strikes, has done considerable damage to Iran and believes it can now deal a permanent blow to Tehran's nuclear programme particularly if it gets a little more help from Trump. But deepening American involvement, perhaps by providing the Israelis with bunker-busting bombs to penetrate Iranian nuclear sites built deep underground or offering other direct US military support, comes with enormous political risk for Trump. He appears to be gradually building the public case for more direct American involvement. Iran should have signed the deal' I t

Khalil seeks transfer from Louisiana jail after judge blocks release

Attorneys for the Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil requested that a federal judge immediately release him on bail, or else transfer him to New Jersey to be closer to his family, as the Trump administration seeks to keep him in custody in Louisiana. The latest request, filed Monday afternoon, follows a whirlwind week in the legal case against Khalil, a lawful permanent resident who has been detained since March on allegations that his presence in the country poses a threat to US foreign policy. While the judge, Michael Farbiarz, ruled that Khalil could not be deported for that reason, he declined Friday to grant Khalil's release, pointing to a secondary rationale advanced by the government: that he had omitted information on his green card application about his work history and affiliations. In their filing, lawyers for Khalil said the government's move to keep him detained on those grounds was exceedingly rare and extremely unusual, reflecting the retaliatory nature of their case