Page 42 - Israel-palestine

Highlights: ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israel's defense minister & Hamas official

Latest news updates: Catch all the latest news developments from across the world here

Gaza death toll from Israel-Hamas war crosses 44,000: Palestine officials

The death toll in the Gaza Strip from the 13-month-old war between Israel and Hamas has surpassed 44,000, local health officials said Thursday. The Gaza Health Ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence. The Health Ministry said 44,056 people have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the war. It has said the real toll is higher because thousands of bodies are buried under rubble or in areas that medics cannot access. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting another 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead. Most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

ICC issues arrest warrants for Israel PM Netanyahu, Hamas officials

Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders have condemned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan's request for warrants as disgraceful and antisemitic

Senate rejects effort from Sanders to block weapons for Israel over deaths

The Senate on Wednesday rejected an attempt by Sen. Bernie Sanders Wednesday to block sales of offensive weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza over mounting civilian deaths there. The Vermont lawmaker and a small group of Democrats sought to put legislation up for a Senate vote that would block the sale of some tank and mortar rounds and smart-bomb kits to Israel. The first attempt to block the sales was rejected overwhelmingly, and two more were expected to go down to defeat. Sanders, in making the case for stopping the sales, said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has not simply waged war against Hamas. It has waged an all-out war against the Palestinian people. Known as joint resolutions of disapproval, the measures would have had to pass both houses of Congress and withstand any presidential veto to become binding. Congress has never succeeded in blocking any arms sales with the joint resolutions. But the vote served as a test of broader frustration among ..

Israel insists on right to act against Hezbollah in any deal to end fight

Israel's defence minister says his country insists on the right to act militarily against Hezbollah in any agreement to end the fighting in Lebanon. Lebanon's government is likely to view any such demand as an infringement on its sovereignty, complicating efforts to end more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that erupted into all-out war in September. Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Wednesday that the condition for any political settlement in Lebanon is the preservation of the intelligence capability and the preservation of the (Israeli military's) right to act and protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah. Lebanese officials mediating between Israel and Hezbollah have called for a return to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 war between the sides. It calls for Hezbollah militants and Israeli forces to withdraw from a buffer zone in southern Lebanon patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. U.S. e

US aid for Ukraine, Israel eating into weapons stockpiles, says commander

The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East are eating away at critical US weapons stockpiles and could hamper the military's ability to respond to China should a conflict arise in the Indo-Pacific, the top US commander for that region said on Tuesday. Head of US Indo-Pacific Command Adm Samuel Paparo cautioned that the US providing or selling billions of dollars worth of air defences to both Ukraine and Israel is now impeding his ability to respond in the Indo-Pacific, such as if China invades Taiwan. "Up to this year, where most of the employment of weapons were really artillery pieces and short-range weapons, I had said, 'not at all'," when asked if the conflicts were hampering US ability to respond to threats in the Indo-Pacific, Paparo said. "It's now eating into stocks, and to say otherwise would be dishonest," he told an audience at the Brookings Institution in Washington. China has ramped up its military pressure against Taiwan, including a massive military exercise that involv

Israel PM Netanyahu offers $5 mn reward to Gazans for each hostage returned

It's the latest twist in Netanyahu's frustrated attempts to deliver on pledges to the families of hostages to bring home those seized when Hamas militants attacked Israel more than a year ago

Israel-Hezbollah truce 'within grasp' as Gaza food crisis worsens: US envoy

A US envoy said an agreement to end the Israel-Hezbollah war is "within our grasp" after talks in Lebanon on Tuesday. However, there was no such optimism in the Gaza Strip, where the looting of nearly 100 aid trucks by armed men worsened an already severe food crisis. Amos Hochstein, the Biden administration's pointsman on Israel and Lebanon, arrived as Hezbollah's allies in the Lebanese government said the militant group had responded positively to the proposal, which would entail both its fighters and Israeli ground forces withdrawing from a UN buffer zone in southern Lebanon. The buffer zone would be policed by thousands of additional UN peacekeepers and Lebanese troops. Israel has called for a stronger enforcement mechanism, potentially including the ability to conduct military operations against any Hezbollah threats, something Lebanon is likely to oppose. An Israeli airstrike on Tuesday hit a Lebanese army base in the southern town of Sarafand, killing three soldiers, the arm

Daniel Barenboim, Awwad conferred with Indira Gandhi Peace Prize 2023

The Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2023 was on Tuesday conferred on Daniel Barenboim and Ali Abu Awwad, who have dedicated their lives to promoting amity among Israeli and Palestinian people through non-violent tools of music, dialogue and peoples' participation. The awardees were selected by a distinguished jury headed by former Chief Justice of India T S Thakur. The award was presented virtually on Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary on Tuesday. The ceremony, conducted virtually, was attended by Chairperson of Indira Gandhi Memorial Trust Sonia Gandhi, former Vice President of India M Hamid Ansari, current head of the jury and former NSA Shivshankar Menon, Justice T S Thakur, Mariam C. Said, who accepted the award on behalf of Daniel Barenboim, and others. Daniel Barenboim is an Argentine-born distinguished classical pianist and conductor, renowned for performing with and directing some of the leading orchestras in the world. Apart from his musical

G20 summit calls for more aid to Gaza and end to Russia-Ukraine war

Leaders of the world's 20 major economies called for a global pact to combat hunger, more aid for war-torn Gaza and an end to hostilities in the Mideast and Ukraine, issuing a joint declaration Monday that was heavy on generalities but short of details on how to accomplish those goals. The joint statement was endorsed by group members but fell short of complete unanimity. It also called for a future global tax on billionaires and for reforms allowing the eventual expansion of the United Nation Security Council (UNSC) beyond its five current permanent members. At the start of the three-day meeting which formally ends Wednesday, experts doubted Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva could convince the assembled leaders to hammer out any agreement at all in a gathering rife with uncertainty over the incoming administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, and heightened global tensions over wars in the Mideast and Ukraine. Argentina challenged some of the language in initial

Trump fancies himself a skilled dealmaker, Mideast peace may be beyond him

Trump will have much difficulty balancing his ardent support of Israel and his other ambitions in the region

India releases second tranche of $2.5 mn to UNRWA for Palestinian refugees

India has provided financial support to the tune of $40 million for the UN Agency's core programmes and services

Who's Iran's next supreme leader? Trace Mojtaba Khamenei's rise to power

Born in Mashhad in 1969, Mojtaba Khamenei is the second son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the present Supreme Leader of Iran

Suspected attack by Houthi rebels targets commercial ship in Red Sea

A suspected attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a commercial ship late on Sunday night travelling through the southern reaches of the Red Sea, though it caused no damage nor injuries, authorities said. The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees USD 1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and Israel's ground offensive in Lebanon. A ship's captain saw that "a missile splashed in close proximity to the vessel" as it travelled near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said in an alert. The attack happened some 48 kilometres west of Yemen port city of Mocha. "The vessel and crew are safe and proceeding to its next port of call," the UKMTO added. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days to acknowledge their

Israeli strikes kill 12 in Gaza; 3 arrested over flares at Netanyahu's home

It was noted that neither Netanyahu nor his family was present at the residence during the time of the attacks

G20 resolution on Middle East must recognise our right to defend: Israel

Foreign Affairs Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that he held telephonic conversations with his counterparts participating in the forum regarding the matter

Israeli troops reach deepest point in Lebanon since Oct 1 invasion

Israeli ground forces reached their deepest point in Lebanon since they invaded six weeks ago before pulling back Saturday after battles with Hezbollah militants, Lebanese state media reported. The clashes and further Israeli bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, came as Lebanese and Hezbollah officials study a draft proposal presented by the U.S. earlier this week on ending the war. Israeli troops captured a strategic hill in the southern Lebanese village of Chamaa, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Israeli border, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the troops were later pushed back. The agency added that Israeli troops blew up the Shrine of Shimon the Prophet in Chamaa as well as several homes before they withdrew, but the claim could not be immediately verified. Israel's military did not immediately respond to requests for comment but said in a statement that its troops continue their limited, localized and targeted operational .

Family of Israeli-American hostage asks Biden, Trump for captives' return

Over the past two weeks, the political landscape around the negotiations for a cease-fire in Gaza have undergone a dramatic transformation. The American elections, the firing of Israel's popular defense minister, Qatar's decision to suspend its mediation, and the ongoing war in Lebanon all seem to have pushed the possibility for a cease-fire in Gaza further away than it has been in more than a year of conflict. Still, some families of the dozens of hostages who remain captive in Gaza are desperately hoping the changes will reignite momentum to bring their loved ones home though the impact of Donald Trump returning to the White House and a hard-line new defense minister in Israel remains unknown. I think maybe there is new hope, said Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander, 20, a soldier kidnapped from his base on the Gaza border during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. Alexander's parents, Adi and Yael Alexander, who live in New Jersey, met

Israel's conduct in Gaza consistent with characteristics of genocide: UN

The UN Committee alleged Israel of intentionally causing death, starvation and serious injury

Israeli strikes kill 11 as Lebanon cease-fire efforts appear to gain steam

Israeli strikes killed at least 11 people across Lebanon on Friday including a mother, father and their three kids in a home as rescue workers called off their search for survivors a day after an Israeli strike on a civil defence centre killed 14 emergency workers and volunteers. The airstrikes come as Lebanon's prime minister apparently urged Iran to convince the Hezbollah militant group to agree to a cease-fire deal with Israel, which could require the group to pull back from the Israel-Lebanon border. Since late September, Israel dramatically escalated its bombardment of Lebanon, vowing to cripple Hezbollah and end its barrages in Israel. More than 3,400 people have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli fire 80 per cent of them in the past month Lebanon's Health Ministry says. The Israel-Hamas war began after Palestinian militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people mostly civilians and abducting 250 others. Lebanon's Hezbollah group began firing .