Page 41 - Israel

Israel hits Beirut for first time since ceasefire ended war with Hezbollah

Israel has launched an attack on Lebanon's capital for the first time since a ceasefire ended the latest Israel-Hezbollah war in November. Associated Press reporters in Beirut heard a loud boom and witnessed smoke rising from an area in the city's southern suburbs that Israel's military had vowed to strike. It marked Israel's first strike on Beirut since a ceasefire took hold last November between it and the Hezbollah militant group, though Israel has attacked targets in southern Lebanon almost daily since then. Israel's army said it hit a Hezbollah drone storage facility in Dahiyeh, which it called a militant stronghold. The strike came after Israel, which accuses Hezbollah of using civilians as human shields, warned residents to evacuate the area. The area struck is a residential and commercial area and is close to at least two schools. Israeli officials said the attack was retaliation for rockets it said were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel. They promised strikes on Bei

Israeli strikes kill family of 6, Hamas spokesman Abdel Qanoua in Gaza

Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed a family of six and a Hamas spokesman in the Gaza Strip. A strike hit the tent where Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua was staying in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza, killing him, according to Basem Naim, another Hamas official. Another strike near Gaza City killed four children and their parents, according to the emergency service of Gaza's Health Ministry. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last week, launching a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians. It has vowed to escalate the offensive if Hamas does not release hostages, disarm and leave the territory. Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages 24 of whom are believed to be alive in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal.

Thousands of Palestinians protest in Gaza in rare call to end Hamas's rule

The demonstrations against Hamas have been largely peaceful, with the militant group's police and security forces rarely appearing in public

Mass protests erupt outside Israel Parliament before key judicial vote

Tens of thousands of Israelis flocked to Jerusalem on Wednesday to protest a bill that would change the way judges are selected. It's the latest in a series of anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the country in recent weeks. The proposed bill is up for a final vote overnight and is expected to pass. Critics say the changes would dangerously politicise the process of judicial appointments. An earlier version of the bill was a cornerstone of the sweeping overhaul of the judiciary launched by Prime Minister Netanyahu's government in early 2023. That process touched off months of mass protests that only ground to a halt after the October 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. Israelis have taken to the streets for several days to protest the government's failure to secure a deal to free hostages held in Gaza and its recent moves to fire top legal and security officials, which many view as further steps that threaten the balance of powers in Israel.

Israel moves Gaza detainees to new camps, but abuses persist, say prisoners

Under pressure from Israel's top court to improve conditions at a facility notorious for mistreating Palestinians seized in Gaza, the military transferred hundreds of detainees to newly opened camps. But abuses at these camps were just as bad, according to Israeli human rights organizations that interviewed dozens of current and former detainees and are now asking the same court to force the military to fix the problem once and for all. What the detainees' testimonies show, rights groups say, is that instead of correcting alleged abuses against Palestinians held without charge or trial including beatings, excessive handcuffing, and poor diet and health care -- Israel's military just shifted where they take place. What we've seen is the erosion of the basic standards for humane detention, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked, one of the rights groups petitioning the Israeli government. Asked for a response, the military said it complies with international law and completel

Gazans protest against Hamas in largest-ever demonstration as war escalates

According to media reports, the protesters took to streets of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and demanded that Hamas step down from power

Israel frees Oscar-winning Palestinian director held after settler attack

Israeli authorities released an Oscar-winning Palestinian director who was detained by the army after being attacked by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, who his wife said beat him in front of his home while filming the assault. Hamdan Ballal and the other directors of No Other Land, which looks at the struggles of living under Israeli occupation, had mounted the stage at the 97th Academy Awards in Los Angeles earlier this month when it won the award for best documentary film. Ballal and two other Palestinians detained with him were released Tuesday afternoon from a police station in the West Bank settlement of Kiryat Arba. Ballal had bruises on his face and blood on his clothes, and the three were driven to a hospital in the neighboring Palestinian city of Hebron, according to Associated Press journalists at the scene. Their attorney, Lea Tsemel, said they spent the night on the floor of a military base while receiving only minimal care for their injuries from the ...

Over 65 killed in Gaza strike as Egypt offers new ceasefire proposal

Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip killed more than 65 Palestinians over the past day, including women and children, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Monday. In less than a week of air and ground operations since Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas, its forces have killed hundreds of people in Gaza -- sending the death toll from 17 months of war soaring above 50,000. Meanwhile, officials said Egypt has introduced a new proposal to try and get the ceasefire back on track. Hamas would release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, in return for Israel allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza and a weekslong pause in the fighting, an Egyptian official said. Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. A Hamas official said the group had responded positively to the proposal, without elaborating. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the closed-door talks. Meanwhile, Israel has said it fired on a

Israel strikes largest hospital in south Gaza; 2 dead, several injured

Israel's military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing one person, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory's Health Ministry said. The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes. Israel's military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war. More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday. The military claimed to have eliminated dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on on

Israeli government passes 'no confidence' motion against attorney-general

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was prohibited from participating in the meeting because of a conflict of interest from his corruption trial

Israeli strikes kill 19 in Gaza, including senior Hamas political leader

An Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas political leader in the Gaza Strip overnight, the militant group said early Sunday. Iran-backed rebels in Yemen who are allied with Hamas meanwhile launched another missile at Israel, setting off air raid sirens. The Israeli military said the projectile was intercepted, and there were no reports of casualties or damage. Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a member of its political bureau and of the Palestinian parliament, was killed in a strike near the southern city of Khan Younis that also killed his wife. Bardawil was a well-known member of the group's political wing who gave media interviews over the years. Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas last week when it launched a surprise wave of airstrikes that killed hundreds of Palestinians across the territory. The Houthis resumed their attacks on Israel, portraying them as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel vows to maintain 'permanent presence' in Gaza unless hostages freed

The wobbly ceasefire collapsed on Tuesday when Israel bombarded Gaza, shattering two months of calm that also saw dozens of hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners

High Court in Israel issues order against sacking Shin Bet head Ronen Bar

In a significant development, the attorney general added that meanwhile, PM Netanyahu's involvement in the process for the appointment of a new chief for Shin Bet will be examined

Israel threatens to permanently annex land in Gaza unless hostages freed

Israel Katz's comments on Friday came days after renewed Israeli airstrikes on Gaza - as well as the country moving more troops into the Palestinian territory

Where was UN, Red Cross, world, asks Israeli hostage freed after 491 days

Freed Israeli hostage Eli Sharabi, who was beaten, chained and starved while held for 491 days by Hamas, expressed his anger during an appearance at the UN Security Council on Thursday for having to suffer for so long and worry every day about being killed. Where was the United Nations? Where was the Red Cross? Where was the world? Sharabi asked. He challenged the UN's most powerful body: If you stand for humanity prove it" by bringing home the 59 hostages still in Gaza, many of whom are believed to be dead. The fate of the remaining hostages became more uncertain after Israel on Tuesday ended a six-week break in the fighting that had allowed for the return of some hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Sharabi said the council talked about the need to get humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, but he saw Hamas militants eating stolen food from dozens of boxes marked with UN emblems while the hostages starved. They were given maybe a piece of pita and a sip of tea a day

US Judge halts deportation of Indian scholar Badar Suri over Hamas ties

Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was arrested earlier this week. His detention has sparked concerns among academics about threats to freedom of speech and research

Netanyahu govt approves removal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar amid distrust

The decision to remove Bar comes amid renewed military action in Gaza after two months of a ceasefire deal with Hamas. His sacking is also likely to invite widespread criticism

58 people killed by Israeli airstrikes across Gaza: Palestinian officials

Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday killed at least 40 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, according to three hospitals. The strikes hit homes in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, they said. Israel resumed heavy strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, shattering a ceasefire that had halted the war and facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages. Israel blamed the renewed fighting on Hamas because the militant group rejected an Israeli-backed proposal that departed from their signed agreement. More than 400 Palestinians were killed on Tuesday alone, mostly women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. There have been no reports of Hamas firing rockets or carrying out other attacks. On Wednesday, Israeli ground troops advanced in Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire took hold in January, seizing part of a corridor separating the northern third of the territory from the south. Israel, which has als

Fragile ceasefire shattered: Why did Israel resume its war in Gaza?

Israel has resumed its military operations in Gaza after ceasefire talks stalled, with Israel and the US pushing to revise the original deal with Hamas

Trump administration detains Indian student over Hamas support in crackdown

Badar Khan Suri, an Indian student at Washington's Georgetown University, was arrested by federal agents outside his home in Rosslyn, Virginia, for alleged ties with the militant group Hamas