Page 87 - Israel-palestine

Highlights of the day Mizoram CM to present state budget on Feb 27

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Israel's finance minister criticises Moody's credit rating downgrade

Israel's finance minister on Sunday slammed the decision by financial ratings agency Moody's to downgrade Israel's credit rating, saying the announcement is a political manifesto that did not include serious economic claims. Moody's dropped the rating on Israel's debt on Friday, warning that the ongoing war in Gaza and a possible war in the north with Hezbollah could adversely affect Israel's economy. It is the first time Moody's has lowered Israel's credit rating, which is used by investors to measure the riskiness of investing in a global entity or government. Moody's downgraded Israel from A1 to A2 and said the outlook for the country's economy was negative. The A2 rating nonetheless continues to carry relatively low risk, according to Moody's. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich angrily dismissed the decision. The announcement reflects a lack of confidence in Israel's security and national strength, and also a lack of confidence in the righteousness of Israel's path against its ..

UAE warns Israel against launching military operation in Rafah, Gaza

The Ministry reaffirmed the UAE's position, calling for a return to negotiations to achieve the two-state solution with an independent Palestinian state

Fleeing Gaza family killed by Israel along with medics sent to find them

The sound of gunfire crackled over the phone as the teenage girl hid in the car and spoke. An Israeli tank was near the vehicle as she and her family were trying to heed Israel's call to evacuate their home in Gaza. Something had gone horribly wrong. Everyone in the vehicle was dead, the teen said. Everyone but her and her five-year-old female cousin, Hind. "They are shooting at us," 15-year-old Layan told the Palestinian Red Crescent. "The tank is next to me." And then there was a burst of gunfire. She screamed and fell silent. That began a desperate rescue attempt by medics with the Palestinian Red Crescent, one of many during the war in Gaza and one that ended on Saturday with the discovery of their ambulance, blackened and destroyed. The two medics were dead. The Palestinian Red Crescent accused Israeli forces of targeting the ambulance as it pulled up near the family's vehicle. The organisation said it had coordinated the journey with Israeli forces as in the past. There was

Israeli drone strike kills two, injures others in Sidon, Lebanon

An Israeli drone struck a car near Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding two others, security officials said. The strike came as tensions across the Middle East grow with the Israel-Hamas war, a drone attack last month that killed three US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on vessels passing through the Red Sea. The drone strike near the coastal town of Jadra took place about 60 kilometres from the Israeli border, making it one of the farthest inside Lebanon since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border on October 8. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the target of the strike in Sidon was Hamas official Basel Saleh, who was "injured to an unknown extent". The official said Saleh was responsible for enlistment of new Hamas recruits in Gaza and the West Bank. Two Lebanese security officials said the strike damaged a c

PM Netanyahu directs military to plan evacuation of population from Rafah

Rafah, a southern Gaza city, currently houses more than 1.3 million people. The majority of the people, who are living there are basically evacuees from other parts of Gaza

Biden order attaches human rights conditions to US military aid for Israel

A new directive by President Joe Biden appeared to ease a split among Democrats over his military support for Israel's war in Gaza, with lawmakers on Friday praising the order authorizing a swift cutoff of military aid to countries that violate international protections of civilians. For Biden, the commitment to conditioning U.S. military aid for Israel and other allies and strategic partners will help him shore up support among center-left Senate Democrats for his proposed $95 billion supplemental assistance package, which is aimed primarily at military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Democratic senators on Friday called Biden's directive meant to bring breadth, oversight, deadlines and teeth to efforts to ensure foreign governments don't use U.S. military aid against civilians historic. This is a sea-change in terms of how you approach U.S. military aid and its impact on civilians, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.

Israel hit with first ever downgrade as Moody's cites impact of war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision does not reflect the state of the country's economy

Israeli strikes kill 9 after Biden calls Israel's approach 'over the top'

At least nine people, including children and women, were killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight into Friday in the central area of the Gaza Strip and in the southern city of Rafah on the border with Egypt, witnesses and hospital officials said. The overnight airstrikes came hours after US President Joe Biden said Thursday that he considers Israel's conduct of the war to be over the top. The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, left Israel on Thursday as the divide grows between the two close allies on the way forward. More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million population has been driven by Israel's military offensive toward the border with Egypt. Unable to leave the tiny Palestinian territory, many are living in makeshift tent camps or overflowing UN-run shelters. The Palestinian death toll from the war has surpassed 27,840 people, the Health Ministry in Gaza said. A quarter of Gaza's residents are starving. The war began with Hamas' Oct 7 assault into Israel, in which militants kille

Netanyahu orders population of Gaza's Rafah evacuated ahead of invasion

Israel says Rafah is the last remaining Hamas stronghold and it needs to send in troops to complete its war plan against the Islamic militant group

As Israeli strikes kills 13 in Gaza, US Prez Biden calls it 'over the top'

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 13 people in Rafah in the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas' cease-fire terms and vowed to expand the offensive into the southern Gaza town. President Joe Biden called Israel's military response in Gaza over the top and said he continues to work tirelessly to press Israel and Hamas to agree on an extended pause in fighting. I am of the view, as you know, that the conduct of the response in the Gaza Strip has been over the top, Biden told reporters in an exchange on Thursday evening after delivering remarks on a special counsel report on his handling of classified documents. Biden has been under political pressure to mend any rifts with voters he might need, especially in the Arab American community, where he has faced increased backlash for his vocal support of Israel's war in Gaza. On Thursday, he sent emissaries to a suburb of Detroit, where the nation's largest concentration of Arab Americans resides. More than h

US military conducts new airstrikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels

The US military conducted new airstrikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said Friday. American forces destroyed four explosive-loaded drone boats and seven mobile anti-ship cruise missile launchers Thursday that could target vessels in the Red Sea, the US military's Central Command said. "They presented an imminent threat to U.S. Navy ships and merchant vessels in the region," the Central Command said. "These actions will protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels." The Houthis have not acknowledged the losses. Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel's offensive in Gaza. But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and Europe. In recent weeks, the United States and the United Kingdom, backed by other allies, have launched airstrikes targeting Hout

US Senate votes on package of wartime funding for Ukraine, Israel

The Senate on Thursday voted to begin work on a package of wartime funding for Ukraine and other U.S. allies, but doubts remained about support from Republicans who rejected a carefully negotiated compromise that also included border enforcement policies. A vote to begin work on the new package cleared on a 67-32 vote, but the legislation's path remained uncertain. Senate leaders had not agreed to a process to limit the debate time for the bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the vote a good first step" and pledged that the Senate would keep working on this bill -- until the job is done. The New York Democrat has tried to salvage $60 billion in aid for Ukraine, as well as roughly $35 billion for Israel, other allies and national security priorities, after the collapse this week of a bipartisan agreement to tie border enforcement policies to the package. Republicans are divided about how to proceed, and GOP leaders were still scrambling to find a plan that their senators

Hamas war: Israeli forces kill senior terrorist operative near Tulkarm

In the operation, the fighters also killed two armed terrorists who tried to escape from the house where the wanted man was staying

Toll from Israeli army action in Gaza is still 'too high': Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the toll from Israel's military offensive on Gaza's civilians remains "too high". Blinken made the comments Wednesday as he was in the region seeking to broker a cease-fire that would pause the fighting. Blinken said the Israeli offensive, launched in response to a deadly Hamas cross-border attack on Oct. 7, is "fully justified". But he expressed concern about the effects of the offensive on Gaza civilians. Thousands of civilians have been killed in the fighting, and the offensive has displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes and led to a humanitarian crisis. As I told the prime minister and other Israeli officials, the daily toll that its military operations continue to take on innocent civilians remains too high, Blinken said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas' terms for a cease-fire and hostage-release agreement, vowing to continue the war until absolute victory and dismissing any ...

No Israeli ties unless Gaza 'aggression' halted, says Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia has resumed talks with the US about forging closer defense ties after a pause following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, people familiar with the discussions said in late January

Still seek complete ceasefire in Gaza, end to Israeli offensive, says Hamas

Hamas says it has responded in a positive spirit to the latest proposal from the US and Mideast mediators for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages. But the militant group said in a statement on Tuesday that it still seeks a comprehensive and complete" cease-fire to end "the aggression against our people". Israel has ruled out the kind of permanent cease-fire sought by the militant group. Qatar's prime minister said on Tuesday that Hamas' reaction to the latest plan for a cease-fire in Gaza and the release of hostages was generally positive" as he met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was making his latest visit to the Middle East. Qatar, which has long mediated with Hamas, has been working with the US and Egypt to broker a cease-fire that would involve an extended halt in fighting and the release of the over 100 hostages still held by Hamas after its October 7 cross-border raid that ignited the war nearly four months ago. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman ..

Inter-ministerial panel to discuss issues related to Red Sea crisis

A high-level inter-ministerial committee will again meet on February 8 to discuss the way forward on the trade front in the wake of ongoing problems in the Red Sea, an official said. Earlier the panel held its meeting on the issue on January 17 here. Senior officials from five ministries -- external affairs, defence, shipping, finance (department of financial services), and commerce -- are expected to participate in the deliberations. "In the February 8 meeting, the officers are expected to talk about steps being taken by them to help the exporting community deal with this crisis," the official said. These meetings are convened by the commerce ministry. In the last meeting, the commerce ministry had asked the Department of Financial Services (DFS) to monitor and maintain credit flow to exporters, who are facing freight cost troubles due to the Red Sea crisis. Meanwhile, the finance ministry on Monday asked banks and insurance companies to expeditiously resolve issues of exporters

Israel's evacuation covers 67% of Gaza, leaves Palestinians crammed

Israel's evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip now cover two-thirds of the territory, or 246 square kilometers (95 square miles), United Nations humanitarian monitors said Tuesday. More than half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people is now crammed into the town of Rafah on the border with Egypt and surrounding areas, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. The Health Ministry in Gaza said the known Palestinian death toll is at 27,478 people after nearly four months of war. A quarter of Gaza's residents are now starving and 85% of the population has been driven from their homes, with hundreds of thousands crammed in makeshift tent camps. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shortly after arriving in the kingdom Monday. It's Blinken's fifth visit to the Mideast since the war in Gaza broke out on Oct. 7, when Hamas stormed into southern Israel. The assault killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilian

McDonald's Oct-Dec results: Sales rise 3.4%, hit by West Asia boycotts

A banner year came to a bumpy end for McDonald's, which lost sales in many markets due to the war in Gaza. Global same-store sales or sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 3.4 per cent in the October-December period, well below the 4.7 per cent increase Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet. Customers in the Middle East were angered after McDonald's Israel which is operated by a local franchisee -- announced in October it was providing free meals to Israeli soldiers. In response, some franchisees, like McDonald's Oman, announced donations to relief efforts in Gaza. Last month, McDonald's President and CEO Chris Kempczinski warned that misinformation in the Middle East and elsewhere was hurting sales. In addition to customer boycotts, McDonald's has had to temporarily limit store hours or close some locations due to protests. We abhor violence of any kind and firmly stand against hate speech, and we will always proudly open our doors to anyon