Page 131 - Israel

After blast kills hundreds at Gaza hospital, Hamas and Israel trade blame

The Israeli military says it had no involvement in an explosion that killed hundreds of people at a Gaza City hospital and that the blast was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza says an Israeli airstrike caused the blast, and that it killed some 500 people, many of whom had sought shelter from an ongoing Israeli offensive. The Israeli military, however, said Palestinian militants had fired a barrage of rockets near the hospital at the time.

SpiceJet flight with 286 passengers arrives in Delhi amid Israel conflict

A SpiceJet flight with 286 passengers, including 18 Nepalese nationals, from Tel Aviv landed at the Delhi airport on Tuesday. This is the fifth flight to be operated under the government's Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of Indians who wish to come back from Israel where an intense conflict is going on with the militant group Hamas. In a post on social media platform X, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that 286 passengers, including 18 Nepalese nationals, arrived on board the fifth flight under Operation Ajay. He also shared pictures of the passengers being welcomed at the airport by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan. According to the Kerala government, there were 22 people from the state among the passengers who arrived in the flight. The SpiceJet aircraft A340 had faced a technical issue after landing at Tel Aviv on Sunday and the plane was taken to Jordan to rectify the problem. After fixing the issue, the plane retu

5 Hezbollah fighters killed as tensions flare along Lebanon-Israel border

Clashes erupted on Tuesday along the Lebanon-Israel border that left five Hezbollah fighters dead, marking the largest number of casualties for the militant group in a single day as tensions with Israel escalate. Israeli forces and armed groups in Lebanon have engaged in a series of low-level skirmishes since the outbreak of the latest war in Gaza between the Israeli military and the Hamas militant group. Hezbollah has announced the death of 10 militants since skirmishes began. Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi threatened that Israel would retaliate aggressively should Hezbollah escalate. This is a war on the home, Halevi said after meeting with Israeli troops near the northern border with Lebanon. If Hezbollah makes a mistake, it will be annihilated. The escalation comes amid fears that the war could spread into Lebanon, where Hezbollah has expressed strong support to the militant Palestinian group Hamas. Israel considers the heavily-armed group in Lebanon an even big

Gaza hospital blast raises stakes for Biden's trip to Israel and Jordan

President Joe Biden's efforts to tamp down tensions in the escalating war between Israel and Hamas faced a bloody setback Tuesday when, shortly before his expected departure for the Middle East, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas withdrew from scheduled meetings to protest an explosion at a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds. The Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike but the Israeli military said it had no involvement and pinned the blame on a misfired Palestinian rocket. Abbas' cancellation, disclosed by a senior Palestinian official, reflects an increasingly volatile situation that will test the limits of American influence in the region as Biden visits Israel and Jordan on Wednesday. Biden's decision to put himself in a conflict zone the same year he made a surprise visit to Ukraine demonstrates his willingness to take personal and political risks as he becomes heavily invested in another intractable foreign conflict with no clear end game and

Arab leaders' summit with Joe Biden called off after Gaza hospital blast

A huge explosion at a Gaza hospital has derailed the diplomatic efforts led by the US to mobilise support for "Israel's right to defend itself" with a summit meeting between American President Joe Biden and other leaders in Jordan's Amman being called off. Hundreds of people are feared dead after a deadly blast at a hospital in Gaza for which Hamas and Israel traded charges holding each other responsible for the incident. Biden is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Wednesday on a solidarity visit to express support for Israel. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that Biden's summit in Amman scheduled to take place on Wednesday with Jordan's King Abdullah, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah El-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been cancelled. Biden has been backing Israeli calls for eliminating Hamas following the attacks carried out by it on Israel on October 7 in which more than 1,300 people were killed and between 200 and 250 Israelis are said to

Hundreds killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza City hospital, says Ministry

Photos from al-Ahli Hospital showed fire engulfing the hospital halls, shattered glass and body parts scattered across the area. The ministry said at least 500 people had been killed

Prepare to deploy, US troops told; Biden to visit Israel on Wednesday

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip with air strikes that have killed more than 3,000 Palestinians, a quarter of them children, and driven around half of the 2.3 million Gazans from their homes

More than 1,000 Indians flown back from Israel: MoS Muraleedharan

Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Tuesday said between 1,000 and 1,200 Indians have been brought back to India by special flights so far. There are approximately 20,000 Indians in Israel, and all of them have been asked to register themselves with the Indian embassy so that it will be easy to know their locations in case they have to be evacuated, he said. Israel has got embroiled in a major conflict after militant group Hamas attacked it on October 7. "As per one estimation, there are approximately 20,000 Indians in Israel, and in the wake of the ongoing conflict, the Indian embassy there issued an advisory for them to remain cautious. We also told them to register themselves with the embassy. For those who want to come back, we have arranged special flights to repatriate them to India. Till Monday, five flights have carried 1,000 to 1,200 Indians. We are evacuating those whose living there is risky," the minister said. All those registering with the

IDF foils infiltration bid by terrorist cell from Lebanese territory

Taking to X, the Israel Defence Forces stated, "The IDF thwarted an attempted infiltration by a terrorist cell from Lebanese territory

Biden to travel to Israel on Oct 18 amid concern that conflict could expand

President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday to show support for the US ally as concerns increase that the raging Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden's travel to Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire and as Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on the 141-square-mile (365-square-kilometre) territory to root out Hamas militants responsible for what US and Israeli officials say was the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust. Biden is looking to send the strongest message yet that the US is behind Israel. His Democratic administration has pledged military support, sending US carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of USD 2 billion in additional aid for both Israel and Ukraine, which is fighting Russia's invasion. Blinken made the announcement early Tuesday after more than seven hours of talks with

With humanitarian aid blocked at Egyptian border, Gaza close to collapse

Truckloads of aid idled at Egypt's border with Gaza as residents and humanitarian groups pleaded Monday for water, food and fuel for dying generators, saying the tiny Palestinian territory sealed off by Israel after last week's rampage by Hamas was near total collapse. U.S. President Joe Biden planned to travel to Israel on Wednesday to signal White House support for the country and to Jordan to meet with Arab leaders. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the trip early Tuesday in Tel Aviv during his second visit to Israel in less than a week amid fears that the fighting could expand into a broader regional conflict. In Gaza, hospitals were on the verge of losing electricity, threatening the lives of thousands of patients, and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced from their homes searched for bread. Israel maintained punishing airstrikes across Gaza as a ground invasion loomed, while Hamas militants kept up a barrage of rocket attacks, and tensions mounted near

Palestinians report heavy shelling in South Gaza, civilians seek refuge

Palestinians in Gaza reported intense bombardments near the southern towns of Khan Younis and Rafah, where Israel ordered civilians to seek refuge, early on Tuesday. Details of causalities were not immediately available. Israeli bombs hit areas west and southeast of Khan Younis and west of Rafah, according to local reports. Thousands of people trying to escape Gaza are gathered in Rafah, which contains the territory's only border crossing to Egypt, as international mediators press for a deal to allow aid in and refugees with foreign passports out. The US hoped to break a deadlock over delivering aid to increasingly desperate civilians in besieged Gaza following a brutal attack by Hamas militants, as President Joe Biden was set to head to Israel and Jordan on Wednesday. Aid workers warned that life in Gaza was near complete collapse because of the Israeli siege, with hundreds of thousands of people seeking shelter, ever-decreasing water supplies and power running out at hospitals.

Biden failed to make Israeli-Palestinian talks a priority: Arab leaders

From its first months in office, the Biden administration made a distinctive decision on its Middle East policy: It would deprioritise a half-century of high-profile efforts by past US presidents, particularly Democratic ones, to broker a broad and lasting peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Since Richard Nixon, successive US administrations have tried their hands at Camp David summits, shuttle diplomacy and other big-picture tries at coaxing Israeli and Palestinian leaders into talks to settle the disputes that underlie 75 years of Middle East tensions. More than other recent presidents, Joe Biden notably has not. Instead, administration officials early on sketched out what they called Biden's policy of quiet diplomacy. They advocated for more modest improvements in Palestinian freedoms and living conditions under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hardline government, which has encouraged settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and which includes coalition

Iran's foreign minister warns of 'preemptive measure' against Israel

Iranian Foreign Minister stressed that the United Nations and the international community should find a political solution at an earliest before things reach a "boiling point"

Senior US general flies into Israel as its conflict with Hamas deepens

The US military is increasing its firepower in the region, aiming to prevent Iran and other Iran-backed groups from getting involved in the conflict as international fears of a wider war grow

Israel to enable humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza: US Secy Blinken

Blinken noted that Biden will receive a comprehensive brief on Israel's war aims and strategy

Israel's US ambassador Herzog says reoccupation of Gaza is not a goal

He said a potential visit by President Joe Biden has not been finalised, but that it would send "a very strong message of support to Israel. And a deterrent message to Israel's enemies."

Joe Biden consults with world leaders on edge over Israel-Hamas war

President Joe Biden consulted with a trio of world leaders and his own national security team on Monday amid growing global concern about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip and fears that the Israel-Hamas war could metastasize into a broader regional conflict. Biden spoke over phone with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz about the fallout from Hamas militants' surprise attacks on Israel that left 1,400 dead and retaliatory strikes that have killed at least 2,778 Palestinians. Earlier Monday, Biden and Vice President Harris were briefed in the Oval Office by their national security team on the situation on the ground in Israel and Gaza. White House chief of staff Jeff Zients joined the briefing led by National security adviser Jake Sullivan, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines and Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns, according to the White House. Biden had be

Trump vows to ban Hamas sympathisers from US if he wins a second term

Doubling down on the hardline immigration policies that have long animated his base, former President Donald Trump on Monday vowed to bar refugees from Gaza and immediately expand his first-term Muslim travel ban if he wins a second term following the deadly attack on Israel last week. Trump, speaking to supporters in Iowa, said that if he returns to the Oval Office, he will immediately begin ideological screening for all immigrants and bar those who sympathise with Hamas and Muslim extremists. No longer will we allow dangerous lunatics, haters, bigots, and maniacs to get residency in our country, he said. If you empathise with radical Islamic terrorists and extremists, you're disqualified... If you want to abolish the state of Israel, you're disqualified. If you support Hamas or any ideology that's having to do with that or any of the other really sick thoughts that go through people's minds very dangerous thoughts you're disqualified. It is unclear how he would enforce that ...

Head of Israel's ISA takes responsibility for failure to foil Hamas attack

The head of Israel's Internal Security Agency (ISA), Ronen Bar, took responsibility for failing to foil Hamas' brutal attack on October 7 in which more than 1,300 people died, but vowed to fight till the end for a decisive victory in the war. Bar, in his first comments following the surprise attack that has left everybody shell-shocked in Israel, said the ISA "failed to generate" a warning. "Despite a series of actions we carried out, unfortunately, last Saturday, we were unable to create a sufficient advance warning that would allow us to thwart the attack. As the one who heads the organisation, the responsibility for this is mine," Bar was quoted by the local media as saying on Monday. However, he emphasised that "there will be time for investigations. Now we are fighting". The intelligence officer noted that his organisation on the very day of the attack set up a special system, in cooperation with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), to locate, identify, and concentrate efforts to