Page 37 - Israel

Aid group shuts Gaza soup kitchens as Israeli blockade halts supplies

Israel's ongoing blockade of humanitarian assistance for Gaza forced a leading aid group on Thursday to shut its community soup kitchens, faced empty warehouses and no replenishment of supplies in the war-battered enclave. World Central Kitchen was serving 1,33,000 meals per day and baking 80,000 loaves of bread over the past weeks, but said it was forced to suspend operations since there is almost no food left in Gaza for the organisation to cook. The lack of food is threatening Gaza's population, already battered by 19 months of war. In April, the World Food Programme said its food stocks in Gaza have run out under Israel's blockade, ending a main source of sustenance for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the territory. Malnutrition and hunger are becoming increasingly prevalent in the Gaza Strip as Israel's total blockade enters its third month. Aid agencies say a shortage of food and supplies has driven the territory toward starvation and supplies to treat and prevent ...

Israel revises advisory urging its citizens to leave Kashmir immediately

Amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan, Israel has updated the existing travel advisory for its nationals urging those in the Kashmir region to leave immediately. The revised advisory came on Wednesday after the Indian military carried out strikes against terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Pakistan's Punjab province earlier in the day. Pakistan army carried out one of the most intense artillery and mortar shelling in years targeting forward villages along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called on Israelis to avoid visiting the Jammu and Kashmir region, with the exception of Ladakh. Israelis currently in Kashmir should leave immediately and obey the instructions of local security forces, the ministry said. This is in line with the existing travel advisory issued by the National Security Council, it added. India launched Operation Sindoor early Wednesday hitting nine terror targets in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Punj

Airstrikes kill 92 in Gaza as Israel prepares to ramp up its offensive

Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 59 people, including women and children, hospital officials said Wednesday, as Israel prepares to ramp up its campaign against Hamas in a devastating war now entering its 20th month. The strikes included one attack on Tuesday night on a school sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians, which killed 27 people, officials from the Al-Aqsa Hospital said, including nine women and three children. It was the fifth time since the war began that the school in central Gaza has been struck. An early morning strike on another school turned shelter in Gaza City killed 16 people, according to officials at Al-Ahli Hospital, while strikes on targets in other areas killed at least 16 others. A large column of smoke rose and fires pierced the dark skies above the school shelter in Bureij, a built-up urban refugee camp. Paramedics and rescuers rushed to pull people out from the blaze. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the strikes. Israel

Syria, Israel holding indirect talks to avoid escalation, says Prez Sharaa

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa said Wednesday that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent recent hostilities from getting out of control. He spoke on his first visit to Europe since taking office in January, and as he seeks to broaden ties to Western countries. Israel carried out a series of airstrikes on parts of Syria last week, saying it aims to protect the country's Druze minority coming under attack by pro-government gunmen. Speaking to reporters in Paris, al-Sharaa said, "Regarding negotiations with Israel, there are indirect talks through mediators to calm down the situation so that they don't go out of control." He did not say who the mediators are. His visit to Paris comes amid renewed sectarian bloodshed in Syria, where al-Sharaa took power after his Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led an offensive that toppled former President Bashar Assad in December. Assad, a member of Syria's Alawite minority, ruled for more than two decades. The vi

Israel destroys Yemen’s main airport after Houthi missile hits Tel Aviv

Israel bombed key targets in Yemen, including Hodeidah Port and Sanaa Airport, after a missile launched by Houthi rebels struck near Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on Sunday.

Only 21 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza now believed to be alive, says Trump

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that three hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have died, leaving only 21 believed to be still living. As of today, it's 21, three have died, Trump said of the hostages being held by Hamas, noting until recently it had been 24 people believed to be living. He did not elaborate on the identities of those now believed to be dead, nor how he had come to learn of their deaths. There's 21, plus a lot of dead bodies," Trump said. One American, Edan Alexander, had been among the 24 hostages believed to be alive, with the bodies of several other Americans also held by Hamas after its Oct. 7, 2023 assault on Israel. The president's comments came as Israel approved plans on Monday to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, in a bid to recover the hostages and try to fulfill its war aims of destroying Hamas. If implemented, the move would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce ...

US will stop bombing Yemen's Houthis after they stop targeting ships: Trump

President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he's ordering a halt to nearly two months of U.S. airstrikes on Yemen's Houthis, saying the Iran-backed rebels have indicated that they don't want to fight anymore and have pledged to stop attacking ships along a vital global trade route. We're going to stop the bombing of the Houthis, effective immediately, Trump said at the start of his Oval Office meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. That likely means an abrupt end to a campaign of airstrikes that began in March, when Trump promised to use overwhelming lethal force after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel's mounting another blockade on the Gaza Strip. At the time, they described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea. Trump said the Houthis had indicated to U.S. officials that they don't want to fight anymore. They just don't want to fight. And we w

A look at Gaza's troubled history as Israel vows to take full control

Israel's Cabinet voted Monday to seize the Gaza Strip for an unspecified amount of time in a move that could see Israel reestablish control over a territory it vacated two decades ago. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 after a decades-long occupation and then imposed a blockade on the territory along with Egypt. Israeli officials did not clarify Monday what a reoccupation of Gaza would entail, but the announcement raises the potential for the reestablishment of Israeli settlements inside the territory. Israel's settler movement has been emboldened under its current ultranationalist government. Details were not formally announced, and Israeli leaders have said the expansion of operations will not begin until after President Donald Trump's visit. The plan may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations. Seizing Gaza would further dim hopes for Palestinian statehood, embed Israel inside a population deeply hostile to it and .

Troops to stay in Gaza for unspecified time as Israel approves takeover

Israel approved plans Monday to seize the Gaza Strip and to stay in the Palestinian territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, a move that, if implemented, would vastly expand Israel's operations there and likely draw fierce international opposition. The new plan, which was approved in an early morning vote by Israeli Cabinet ministers, also calls for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to move to Gaza's south. That would likely amount to their forcible displacement and exacerbate an already dire humanitarian crisis. Details of the plan were not formally announced, and its exact timing and implementation were not clear. Its approval came hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The plan may be another measure by Israel to try to pressure Hamas into making concessions in ceasefire negotiations. A third person, a defense official, said the new plan would not begin until after U.S. Preside

Israeli bulldozers raze West Bank hamlet, displace dozens of Palestinians

Israeli military bulldozers demolished most of a Palestinian Bedouin village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday, taking out the hamlet's infrastructure and leaving residents wandering amid the rubble of their homes. The bulldozers rolled into Khalet Al-Dab in the morning, taking down most of the village's structures, said Basel Adra, a filmmaker, journalist and activist from the area. Nine homes, five tents and five animal pens were demolished, said Mohammed Rabia, head of the village council in the area. COGAT, the Israeli military body responsible for administrative affairs in the occupied West Bank, said it demolished the buildings because they were built illegally in an area designated as a closed firing zone. Palestinians have long said that securing Israeli permission to build in the West Bank is nearly impossible. Ali Dababsa, 87, a shepherd who watched the forces demolish his home, looked aghast. "We want to die under this soil, this land is precious to us and we a

Israel approves plan to capture entire Gaza to pressure Hamas for ceasefire

The plan is part of Israel's attempt to put more pressure on Hamas to release hostages and agree to a ceasefire under Israel's conditions

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