Page 19 - Israel-palestine

31 Palestinians killed near Gaza aid site, Israel denies responsibility

At least 31 people were killed and over 170 were wounded Sunday as large crowds were on their way to receive food in the Gaza Strip, health officials and witnesses said. Witnesses said Israeli forces fired toward the crowds just before dawn around a kilometre (about 1,100 yards) from an aid site run by an Israeli-backed foundation. Israel's military denied its forces fired at civilians near or within the site in the southern city of Rafah. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with procedure, said troops fired warning shots at several suspects advancing toward them overnight. The military also released drone footage it said was shot Sunday, apparently in daylight, in the southern city of Khan Younis, showing what it said were armed, masked men firing at civilians trying to collect aid. The Associated Press could not independently verify the video, and it was not clear who was being targeted. "Hamas is doing everything in its power to prevent the ...

At least 21 Palestinians killed while heading to aid hub in Gaza

At least 21 people were killed as they went to receive aid from an Israeli-backed foundation in the Gaza Strip, according to a nearby hospital run by the Red Cross that received the bodies. It said another 175 people were wounded on Sunday. An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of people being treated at the hospital.

Hamas seeks changes to Gaza ceasefire plan, US envoy calls it unacceptable

Hamas has responded to the latest US ceasefire proposal for Gaza while seeking amendments to it. A senior Hamas official tells The Associated Press that there some notes and amendments to some points, especially on the US guarantees, the timing of hostage release, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The official spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. A separate Hamas statement said the proposal aims for a permanent ceasefire, a comprehensive Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and an ensured flow of aid. It said 10 living hostages and the bodies of 18 others would be released in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners. Israeli officials have approved the US proposal for a temporary ceasefire in the nearly 20-month war. US President Donald Trump has said negotiators were nearing a deal.

'100% Gazans at risk of famine', warns UN as aid delays deepen Gaza crisis

UN agency warns that entire population of Gaza faces risk of famine due to severe aid shortages and bureaucratic barriers, as Israel permits only limited supplies into the besieged territory

Israel accepts US-backed Gaza truce plan, Hamas gives cool response

Israel has accepted a new US proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said Thursday. US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expressed optimism earlier this week about brokering an agreement to halt the Israel-Hamas war and return more of the hostages captured in the attack that ignited it. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel backed and supported the new proposal. Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer. The Zionist response, in essence, means perpetuating the occupation and continuing the killing and famine, Bassem Naim, a top Hamas official, told The Associated Press. He said it does not respond to any of our people's demands, foremost among which is stopping the war and famine. Nonetheless, he said the group would study the proposal with all national responsibility. Hamas had previously said i

Who is Muhammed Sinwar, the top Hamas commander killed by Israel?

Muhammed Sinwar, brother of Yahya Sinwar, was a Hamas commander from Khan Younis. A key figure in Hamas' military wing, he helped plan the 2006 Schalit raid and rose to high ranks before his death

Netanyahu confirms Israel forces killed Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel killed senior Hamas leader Mohammed Sinwar, apparently confirming his death in a recent airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Speaking before parliament, Netanyahu included Sinwar in a list of Hamas leaders killed in Israeli strikes. Mohammed is the brother of Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader and one of the masterminds of the October 7, 2023 attack, who was killed by Israeli forces last year.

1 killed, 48 injured as Israeli troops open fire on crowds at Gaza aid site

At least one Palestinian was killed and 48 others wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd overrunning a new aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip set up by an Israeli and US-backed foundation, Gaza's Health Ministry said Wednesday. Crowds of Palestinians broke through the fences around the distribution site on Tuesday, and an Associated Press journalist heard Israeli tank and gun fire, and saw a military helicopter firing flares. Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights Office for the Palestinian territories, had earlier told reporters in Geneva that 47 people were wounded, mostly by gunfire. In a separate development, Israel said it had carried out airstrikes Wednesday on the international airport in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, after Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired several missiles at the country in recent days, without causing casualties. The Israeli military said it destroyed aircraft used by the rebels. Israel last struck the airport in Sanaa on May 6, destroying the

New aid system in Gaza begins operations, says US-backed group

A new aid system in Gaza opened its first distribution hubs Monday, according to a US-backed group that said it began delivering food to Palestinians who face growing hunger after Israel's nearly three-month blockade to pressure Hamas. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is taking over the handling of aid despite objections from United Nations. The desperately needed supplies started flowing on a day that saw Israeli strikes kill at least 52 people in Gaza. The group said truckloads of food -- it did not say how many -- had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun. More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day, it said in a statement. The UN and aid groups have pushed back against the new system, which is backed by Israel and the United States. They assert that Israel is trying to use food as a weapon and say a new system won't be effective. Israel has pushed for an alternative aid delivery plan because it says

US-German citizen arrested for attempted attack at US embassy in Tel Aviv

A dual US-German citizen has been arrested on charges that he travelled to Israel and attempted to firebomb the branch office of the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, officials said on Sunday. Federal prosecutors in New York said the man, Joseph Neumeyer, walked up to the embassy building on May 19 with a backpack containing Molotov cocktails but got into a confrontation with a guard and eventually ran away, dropping his backpack as the guard tried to grab him. Law enforcement then tracked Neumeyer down to a hotel a few blocks away from the embassy and arrested him, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York. The attack took place against the backdrop of Israel's war in Gaza, now in its 19th month. Neumeyer, 28, who is originally from Colorado and has dual US and German citizenship, had travelled from the US to Canada in early February and then arrived in Israel in late April, according to court records. He had made a series of threatening social media posts

'Free Palestine' shooter charged with murder of Israeli embassy staff in DC

A suspect, identified as 30-year-old Elias Rodriguez, has been arrested in connection to the 2 Israeli Embassy staff members who were shot dead outside a Jewish museum in Washington DC

Netanyahu shocked by 'horrific, antisemitic' DC shooting of embassy staff

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's office said Thursday he is shocked by the horrific, antisemitic shooting of two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington. We are witnessing the terrible price of antisemitism and wild incitement against Israel. The blood libels against Israel are costing blood and must be combatted to the bitter end, he said in the statement. Netanyahu said he had instructed Israeli missions around the world to beef up security. Two staff members of the Israeli embassy in Washington were shot and killed Wednesday evening while leaving an event at a Jewish museum, and the suspect yelled, Free, free Palestine after he was arrested, police said. The two victims, a man and a woman, were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum when the suspect approached a group of four people and opened fire, Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said at a news conference.

Israeli politician critiques Gaza war's toll on Palestinians, sparks outcry

Killing babies as a hobby. Expelling a population. Fighting against civilians. It is some of the harshest language against Israel's wartime conduct in Gaza and it came this week from a prominent Israeli politician, sparking a domestic uproar as the country faces heavy international criticism. It is not uncommon for politicians to criticise Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war strategy, especially his failure to free all the hostages held by Hamas. What made the comments by centre-left opposition party leader Yair Golan rare and jarring to officials across the political spectrum -- was their focus on the plight of Palestinians. The ensuing controversy underscored how little the war's toll on Gaza's civilians has figured into the public discourse in Israel in stark contrast to the rest of the world. Speaking to the Israeli public radio station Reshet Bet, Golan a former general said Israel was becoming a pariah state and cautioned that a sane country doesn't engage in fighting

Pope Leo XIV urges aid in Gaza, end to hostilities in first public address

Pope Leo XIV called Wednesday for humanitarian aid to reach the Gaza Strip and for an end to the heartbreaking toll on its people, as he presided over his first general audience in St. Peter's Square. The Vatican said that around 40,000 people were on hand for the audience, which came just days after an estimated 200,000 people attended the inaugural Mass on Sunday for history's first American pope. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, began the audience with a tour through the piazza in the popemobile and stopped to bless several babies. In addressing specific greetings to different groups of pilgrims, Leo spoke in his native English, his fluent Spanish as well as the traditional Italian of the papacy. I renew my heartfelt appeal to allow the entrance of dignified humanitarian aid to Gaza and to put an end to the hostilities whose heartbreaking price is being paid by children, the elderly and sick people, he said. The general audience on Wednesdays is a weekly ...

Two Israeli embassy staff shot dead near Jewish museum in Washington

Two Israeli embassy staff were shot and killed near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC, in what officials are calling an anti-Semitic terror attack

No aid that entered Gaza this week has reached Palestinians, says UN

The UN said Wednesday it was trying to get the desperately needed aid that has entered Gaza this week into the hands of Palestinians amid delays because of fears of looting and Israeli military restrictions. Israeli strikes pounded the territory, killing at least 82 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Under international pressure, Israel has allowed dozens of aid trucks into Gaza after blocking all food, medicine, fuel and other material for nearly three months. But the supplies have been sitting on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, and the UN has been unable to bring them in further to distribute. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the majority of supplies that had entered since Monday had been loaded onto UN trucks, but they could not take them out of the crossing area. He said the road that the Israeli military had given them permission to use was too unsafe. Talks were underway for an alternative, he said. Food security experts have warned that Ga

Israeli allies unleash strong rhetoric over Gaza but with limited action

Three allies of Israel used words like abhorrent and monstrous this week to describe the country's actions in Gaza. The leaders of Britain, France and Canada consistent defenders of Israel's right to strike back at Hamas after its October 2023 attack now express dismay at the high civilian death toll in Gaza and the monthslong blockade of supplies that has led to famine warnings. While their rhetoric is remarkably strong, it does not mean tough action will follow. What did France, Britain and Canada say? UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called Israel's renewed Gaza offensive after a two-month ceasefire wholly disproportionate. They threatened to take concrete actions if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government doesn't halt the offensive and lift restrictions on humanitarian aid. They condemned as abhorrent some of the language used by members of the Israeli government suggesting the destruction of Gaz

UN urges immediate aid distribution as supply trucks enter Gaza after weeks

The blockade, which began on March 2, followed Israel's on-ground military operations "Gideon's Chariots" in the region launched on May 17, aimed at "conquering" Gaza

Israeli strikes kill 85 in Gaza as more aid allowed into territory

Israel pressed ahead Tuesday with its new military offensive in Gaza despite mounting international criticism, launching airstrikes that health officials said killed at least 85 Palestinians. Israeli officials said they also allowed in dozens more trucks carrying aid. Two days after aid began entering Gaza, the desperately needed new supplies have not yet reached people in Gaza, which has been under an Israeli blockade for nearly three months, according to the United Nations. Experts have warned that many of Gaza's 2 million residents are at high risk of famine. Under pressure, Israel agreed this week to allow a minimal amount of aid into the Palestinian territory after preventing the entry of food, medicine and fuel in an attempt to pressure the Hamas militant group. UN spokesperson Stphane Dujarric said that although the aid has entered Gaza, aid workers were not able to bring it to distribution points where it is most needed, after the Israeli military forced them to reload the .

Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 60 people, say officials

Israeli strikes overnight and into Tuesday have killed at least 60 people across the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian health officials. Israel has launched another major offensive in the territory in recent days, saying it aims to return dozens of hostages held by Hamas and destroy the militant group. On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began allowing a small number of aid trucks into Gaza for the first time in 2 1/2 months, saying he had been pressured to lift a blockade on the territory's 2 million Palestinians that had sparked fears of famine. But UN agencies said the handful of trucks that entered were nowhere near enough to meet the massive need for food, medicine and other supplies. Some 600 trucks a day had entered during a ceasefire earlier this year. Two strikes in northern Gaza hit a family home and a school-turned-shelter, killing at least 22 people, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. A strike in the ..