Page 34 - Israel

Israel approves plans to intensify military ops in Gaza, says official

Israeli Cabinet ministers approved plans to intensify military operations in the Gaza Strip, an Israeli official said on Monday. The official said the plan was gradual and involved claiming more territory in the Palestinian enclave, where Israel already controls roughly half of the land. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said the influential security Cabinet, a gathering of top ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, approved the decision early Monday. The approval comes a day after Israel announced it was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers for the expanded operations in Gaza, which Israel says are meant to increase pressure on Hamas to negotiate a ceasefire that better aligns with Israel's terms. An eight-week ceasefire with the Hamas militant group collapsed in March when Israel resumed strikes in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians, many of them women and children. Israel also captured swaths of ...

Air India's Tel Aviv-bound flight diverted after missile attack on Israel

An Air India flight from the national capital to Tel Aviv was diverted to Abu Dhabi on Sunday as there was a missile attack near the airport in the Israeli city, according to sources. The attack happened less than an hour before the Air India flight AI139, operated with a Boeing 787 aircraft, was to land at Tel Aviv, the sources said. They said the flight will be coming back to Delhi. As per information available on flight tracking website Flightradar24.com, the flight was in the Jordanian airspace when it was decided to divert the flight to Abu Dhabi. Air India's flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi has been cancelled for Sunday. A statement from Air India was awaited. Air traffic to the Tel Aviv airport was briefly suspended after a missile launched from Yemen landed near the Tel Aviv airport.

Israeli Cabinet ministers to vote on whether to intensify fighting in Gaza

Top Israeli Cabinet ministers were set to meet on Sunday to vote on whether to intensify the country's military operations in the Gaza Strip, as the army began to call up thousands of reserve soldiers in preparation for an expanded assault, Israeli officials said. Also Sunday, a missile launched by Iranian-backed rebels in Yemen prompted air traffic at Israel's main airport to halt, police said. The Israeli military said a projectile landed in the area of the main airport, although it was not immediately clear if it was the missile or an interceptor of the country's missile defense system. The plans to escalate fighting in Gaza more than 18 months after the war there erupted come as a humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens. As part of its efforts to pressure the militant group Hamas to negotiate on Israel's terms for a new ceasefire, Israel in early March halted the entry of goods into Gaza. That has plunged the territory of 2.3 million people into what is believed to be the .

Desperate children, adults in Gaza scramble for food as Israel blocks aid

Screaming in anguish as the desperate crowd crushes them against a barrier, young children and adults frantically wave pots and pans at charity workers, begging for a portion of some of the last food aid left in Gaza: Rice. The chaos at the community kitchen in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Friday was too overwhelming for Niveen Abu Arar. She tried and tried, but the 33-year-old mother of eight didn't get to the front of the crowd in time. She left with her pot empty, and her eyes full of tears. Until when will life be like that? We're slowly dying. We haven't eaten bread for a month and a half. There is no flour. There is nothing, said Abu Arar, whose ninth child, a 1-year-old boy, was killed in an Israeli strike near their home at the start of the war in 2023. We don't know what to do We don't have money. What do we get for them? She cradled a toddler in her lap as she spoke. With no milk to provide, she poured water into a baby bottle and pressed it into her youngest daughter'

Netanyahu's criticism of Iran's nuclear programme muted with Trump in power

When the US and Iran met for nuclear talks a decade ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against an emerging deal from the world's most public stages, including in a fiery speech to Congress seen as a direct challenge to the Obama administration as it was wrapping up the talks. Now, as the sides sit down to discuss a new deal, Netanyahu has fallen silent. Netanyahu sees an Iran with nuclear weapons as an existential threat to Israel, and he is just as wary of any new US agreement with its archenemy that may not meet his standards. Yet he finds himself shackled with Donald Trump in the White House. Netanyahu is unwilling to publicly criticise a president who has shown broad support for Israel, whom he deems to be Israel's greatest friend, and who doesn't take well to criticism. He can't do anything that goes against Trump. He's paralysed, said Yoel Guzansky, an Iran expert at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv-based think tank. Israel is in a .

Huge wildfires hit the city of Jerusalem, largest ever in history of Israel

Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Italy and Croatia were expected to dispatch three firefighting aircraft to assist in battling the blaze

Adani Group puts on hold $10 bn chip deal with Israel's Tower Semiconductor

Adani Group pauses its $10 billion chip venture with Israel's Tower Semiconductor after internal review reportedly cites weak demand and limited partner investment

Hezbollah chief asks govt to take action to end Israel's attacks on Lebanon

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah group called on the government on Monday to work harder to end Israel's attacks in the country a day after an Israeli airstrike hit a suburb of Beirut. Naim Kassem said in a televised speech that Hezbollah implemented the ceasefire deal that ended the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war in late November. But despite that, Israel is continuing with near-daily airstrikes. Kassem's comments came as the Israeli military said it carried out more than 50 strikes in Lebanon this month saying they came after Hezbollah violated the US-brokered ceasefire. On Sunday, Israeli warplanes struck Beirut's southern suburbs after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. The Israeli military said it struck a precision-guided missiles facility. "The resistance complied 100 per cent with the (ceasefire) deal and I tell state officials that it's your duty to guarantee protection," Kas

'Human' Thumb & ransom note: Delhi Police cracks ₹5 crore extortion case

A routine morning turned bizarre for a businessman in east Delhi's Shahdara when he got a parcel delivered at home with a human thumb in it. The parcel also contained a smart watch and a letter demanding Rs 5 crore in aid for people in Gaza, a geopolitical hotbed now at war with Israel. All the same, the thumb turned out to be a prosthetic, filled with chicken gristle to lend it an authentic look. What the smart watch was intended to convey is not yet known. The incident happened on April 16, the same day businessman Vikas Jain approached Jagatpuri Police Station, reporting that a girl delivered a suspicious parcel at his house, a police officer said. "The accompanying letter warned of grave consequences to him and his family if the demanded ransom was not paid within 10 days," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said. The letter read, "Brother, we know about you very well. You must be aware that in Gaza, the situation is very bad. Israel has made Gaza's condi

UN court opens hearings on Israel's responsibility for Gaza aid access

The United Nations' highest court opened hearings Monday into Israel's obligation to ensure and facilitate urgently needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in the occupied territories, bringing the ongoing conflict in Gaza back into focus in The Hague. Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Saar called the hearings part of a systematic persecution and delegitimisation of his country. Speaking in Jerusalem as the hearings began in The Hague, Saar said the court was becoming completely politicised. He called the proceeding shameful. A week of hearings has been scheduled in response to a request last year from the UN General Assembly, which asked the International Court of Justice to weigh in on Israel's legal responsibilities after the country blocked the UN agency for Palestinian refugees from operating on its territory. In a resolution sponsored by Norway, the General Assembly requested an advisory opinion, a non-binding but legally important decision from the court, on ..

Israeli jets intercepted Iranian planes aiding Syria's Assad: Netanyahu

Israeli warplanes last year intercepted Iranian aircraft headed toward Syria, preventing them from delivering troops meant to assist the country's embattled president at the time, Bashar Assad, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday. The remarks in a speech gave a new glimpse into Israel's thinking in the final days in power for Assad, a longtime enemy who was overthrown by insurgents last December. Speaking to a conference hosted by the Jewish News Syndicate, a pro-Israel news agency, Netanyahu claimed that arch-rival Iran wanted to save Assad after watching the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group in neighbouring Lebanon suffer heavy losses in fighting with Israel. "They had to rescue Assad," Netanyahu said, claiming that Iran wanted to send "one or two airborne divisions" to help the Syrian leader. "We stopped that. We sent some F-16s to some Iranian planes that were making some routes to Damascus," he said. "They turned back." He gave no further details. In fighti

Israeli strikes kill 51 in Gaza, taking Palestinian war toll to over 52K

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the remains of 51 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes in the past 24 hours, the local Health Ministry said Sunday, bringing the Palestinian death toll from the 18-month-old Israel-Hamas war to 52,243. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise bombardment on March 18, and has been carrying out daily waves of strikes. Ground forces have expanded a buffer zone and encircled the southern city of Rafah, and now control around 50 per cent of the territory. Israel has also sealed off Gaza's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, for nearly 60 days. Aid groups say supplies will soon run out and that thousands of children are malnourished. The overall death toll includes nearly 700 bodies for which the documentation process was recently completed, the ministry said in its latest update. The daily toll includes bodies retrieved from the rubble after earlier strikes. Israeli strikes killed another 23

Israeli jets strike Beirut's southern suburbs for 3rd time since ceasefire

Israeli jets struck Beirut's southern suburbs Sunday after issuing a warning about an hour earlier, marking the third Israeli strike on the area since a ceasefire took effect in late November. A huge plume of smoke billowed over the area after the strike. There were no immediate reports of casualties. In the warning, the Israeli military said that it was targeting Hezbollah facilities in the Hadath area and urged residents to move at least 300 meters from the site before the strike. Two warning strikes followed. Fighter jets were heard over parts of the Lebanese capital before the strike near the Al-Jamous neighbourhood, where gunfire was shot into the air to warn residents and urge them to evacuate, as families fled in panic. During the last Israel-Hezbollah war, Israeli drones and fighter jets regularly pounded the southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has wide influence and support. Israel views the area, where it has assassinated several of Hezbollah's top leaders, including chief

Why International Court of Justice weighing in on humanitarian aid in Gaza

The top United Nations court on Monday will begin hearing from 40 countries on what Israel must do to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Last year, the UN General Assembly asked the International Court of Justice to weigh in on Israel's legal obligations after the country effectively banned the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the main provider of aid to Gaza, from operating. The United States, Israel's closest ally, voted against the resolution. Israel over a month ago again cut off all aid to Gaza and its over 2 million people. Israel has disputed that there is a shortage of aid in Gaza, and says it is entitled to block the aid because it says Hamas seizes it for its own use. The Hague-based court has been asked to give an advisory opinion, a non-binding but legally definitive answer, in the latest judicial proceedings involving Israel and the 18-month war in Gaza. That is expected to take several months. Wh

Gaza faces severe shortages as Israel blocks food supply for nearly 60 days

For nearly 60 days, no food, fuel, medicine or other item has entered the Gaza Strip, blocked by Israel. Aid groups are running out of food to distribute and markets are nearly bare. Palestinian families are left struggling to feed their children. In the sprawling tent camp outside the southern city of Khan Younis, Mariam al-Najjar and her mother-in-law emptied four cans of peas and carrots into a pot and boiled it over a wood fire. They added a little bouillon and spices. That, with a plate of rice, was the sole meal on Friday for the 11 members of their family, including six children. Among Palestinians, "Fridays are sacred," a day for large family meals of meat, stuffed vegetables or other rich traditional dishes, al-Najjar said. "Now we eat peas and rice," she said. "We never ate canned peas before the war. Only in this war that has destroyed our lives," she said. The around 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are now mainly living off canned vegetables, rice, pasta and lentils.

Our food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel's blockade: WFP

The World Food Programme says its food stocks in the Gaza Strip have run out under Israel's nearly 8-week-old blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. The WFP said in a statement that it delivered the last of its stocks to charity kitchens that it supports around Gaza. It said those kitchens are expected to run out of food in the coming days. Some 80% of Gaza's population of more than 2 million relies primarily on charity kitchens for food, because other sources have shut down under Israel's blockade, according to the UN. The WFP has been supporting 47 kitchens that distribute 644,000 hot meals a day, WFP spokesperson Abeer Etefa told the Associated Press. It was not immediately clear how many kitchens would still be operating in Gaza if those shut down. But Etefa said the WFP-backed kitchens are the major ones in Gaza. Israel cut off entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to Gaza on March 2 and then resu

'Lousy spy fiction': Hindenburg denies Adani, Mossad, Congress conspiracy

An article from news agency Press Trust of India earlier this month had cited unnamed sources claiming that Adani collaborated with agents from Israel's intelligence agency Mossad in an international

Deleted condolence after Pope's death exposes Israel-Vatican tensions

Hours after Pope Francis' death was announced, Israel's Foreign Ministry posted a short message on X: Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing." Several hours later, it was deleted without explanation. Coming at a time of effusive global mourning over Francis' death, the decision to delete the post appeared to reflect the tensions that have emerged between Israel and the Vatican over Francis' frequent criticism of Israel's conduct during the war in Gaza. The Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the deletion. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is usually quick to issue statements on the passing of major international figures. But he has been silent on the pope's death, as has Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. The only official condolences came from Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, who holds a largely ceremonial role and who praised Francis for being a man of deep faith and boundless compassion. For most of Francis' papacy, ties between Israel and the Vatican steadily

West Asia latest: Israeli strikes across Gaza kill at least 28 people

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 28 people, mostly women and children, the territory's Health Ministry said on Thursday. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas and renewed its air and ground war over a month ago. It has sealed off Gaza's 2 million Palestinians from all food and other imports since the beginning of March to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 captives, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251 hostages. Most have since been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israel's offensive has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not say

We stand with India in times of need: Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson

Israel is a "friend" of India and friends stand with each other in times of need," Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein said on Wednesday. Marmorstein's remarks, made during a virtual interaction with journalists, comes against the backdrop of a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on Tuesday in which at least 26 people, most of them tourists, died. "Israel is a friend of India. That is a constant. Friends stand with each other in times of need. And, we stand with India," he said. The message of solidarity with India had also come from Israel hours after the attack. "Deeply saddened by the heinous terror attack on tourists in #Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. Israel stands united with India in the fight against terror," Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar posted on X on Tuesday. Israeli Ambassador to India Reuven Azar had said on Tuesday that he was appalled by the attack. "Sad and appalled .