Page 52 - Israel

Humanitarian aid to North Gaza mostly blocked for last 2 months, says UN

Humanitarian aid to North Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on October 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days, the United Nations has said. That has left between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to food, water, electricity or health care, according to the world body. In the north, Israel has continued its siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya with Palestinians living there largely denied aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said on Tuesday. Recently, it said, about 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from three schools in Beit Lahiya to Gaza City. Adding to the food crisis, only four UN-supported bakeries are currently operating throughout the Gaza Strip, all of them in Gaza City, OCHA said. Sigrid Kaag, the senior UN humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon that civilians trying to survive i

Have waited 8 yrs for this moment: Netanyahu testifies in corruption trial

The Prime Minister faces charges of fraud, accepting bribes, and breach of trust stemming from three separate police investigations

Netanyahu warns Syria against aiding Iran or arming Hezbollah, vows action

Netanyahu had further acknowledged that while the collapse presents great opportunities, it also poses significant dangers

Netanyahu takes to witness stand for first time in alleged corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday took the stand for the first time in his trial for alleged corruption, setting off what will be weeks of testimony. Netanyahu said hello to the judges. One judge told him he had the same privileges as other witnesses and could sit or stand as he chose. Netanyahu will answer during his appearances to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. He is accused of promoting advantageous regulation for media moguls in exchange for favourable coverage of himself and his family. He is also accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars' worth of cigars and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for assisting him with personal and business interests. He denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system that is out to topple his lengthy rule. The trial will be an inconvenient legal spectacle for the Israeli leader at a

Govt services halted in Syria as workers stay home after rebel takeover

Syria's prime minister said on Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad, but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country's public sector had come to a complete and abrupt halt". Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad's brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said on Monday they would not tell women how to dress. It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women's dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty, the

Syria falls to Islamist rebels, Assad flees to Moscow: All that happened

Bashar-al Assad's autocratic regime fell on December 8, marking an end to a 13-year-old civil war. Here's all you need to know about the latest rebellion

Netanyahu to take witness stand for first time in his corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as the leader wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges. At home, Netanyahu is on trial for accusations of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, but his appearance on the witness stand will be a low point in his decades-long political career, standing in contrast to the image of a sophisticated, respected leader he has tried to cultivate. The trial will take up a chunk of Netanyahu's time at a crucial point for Israel. While he makes his case for weeks from the stand, he will still be tasked with managing the war in Gaza, maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and keeping tabs on threats from the wider Middle East, including Iran. It will be the fir

Israel shells northern Gaza hospital, disrupting service, say doctors

The health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza said a doctor was killed with his family in an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Saturday night

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 29 people at northern Gaza hospital

Palestinian officials say at least 29 people were killed, including four medical staff, when Israeli strikes pummelled the area around one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza. The situation in and around the Kamal Adwan hospital is catastrophic, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital. Elsewhere in the region, Lebanon said it is closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital, Damascus. Friday's decision came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged a border crossing in northern Lebanon just days after it was reopened. Jordan also closed a border crossing with Syria because of the security situation on the Syrian side. Syrian insurgents have entered the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer to Syria's third largest city. A day earlier, jihadi-led opposition fighters captured the central city of Hama, Syria's fourth ...

Tadiran Telecom to invest $10 mn annually to manufacture IP phones in India

Israel-based unified communications company Tadiran Telecom plans to invest at least USD 10 million (about Rs 80 crore) annually to manufacture IP telephones in India, a top company official has said. IP telephones support multiple communication functions, including conference calls through apps, and are generally used in business organisations. The company has partnered with DCM Shriram for manufacturing IP phones. Tadiran Telecom CEO Moshe Mitz, on the sidelines of an event to announce its manufacturing plan in India, said the company is likely to invest more every year in the second phase of production expansion, which will include Software development. "We plan to make 1,00,000 IP telephones in India every year. This is a conservative number. We have allocated USD 10 million for one year for our manufacturing project. Investment will increase based on the performance," Mitz said. Tadiran has been operating in India for the last 26 years through channel partners. Mitz said tha

US probes Spain's port denials of cargo ships carrying arms to Israel

The United States has opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain has been denying port entry to cargo vessels reportedly transporting US weapons to Israel. The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent body charged with monitoring and evaluating conditions that may affect shipping and US international trade, said it had opened the probe after receiving information that Spain had refused to allow at least three cargo vessels into its ports. The commission is concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavourable to shipping in the foreign trade, it said Thursday in a notice published in the Federal Register. If the investigation determines that Spain has interfered with such commerce, the commission could levy millions of dollars in fines, up to USD 2.3 million per voyage, it said. The notice said the commission had been informed on November 19 that Spain was denying port entry to ships, including those enrolled in the

Australian PM blames antisemitism for arson that damaged synagogue

The suspected anti-Semitic arson attack, which left one worshipper injured, has been widely condemned by Jewish organisations

Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after long hiatus, says Hamas official

A Hamas official said Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there has been a reactivation of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, according to Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas' political bureau who spoke with The Associated Press in Turkiye. Another official familiar with the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. Since the talks broke down, there have been significant shifts in the global and regional landscape. Donald Trump w

Israel sees record-breaking $10.5 billion in startup acquisitions

This comes amid ongoing economic troubles in Europe and the US and as Israel faces an ongoing, multi- front war

India and Israel on right side of the US' equation: Minister Nir Barkat

There is a new world order; India and Israel on the 'right side' of USA's equation: Nir Barkat

Genocide committed against Palestinians in Gaza, says Amnesty International

Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid. The human rights group released a report Thursday in the Middle East that said such actions could not be justified by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, which ignited the war, or the presence of militants in civilian areas. Amnesty said the United States and other allies of Israel could be complicit in genocide, and called on them to halt arms shipments. Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now, Agns Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said in the report. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic blood libel. It i

Israeli airstrikes on tent camp in Southern Gaza kill at least 21 people

Israeli airstrikes tore through a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza on Wednesday, sparking fires and killing at least 21 people, according to the head of a nearby hospital, in the latest assault on a sprawling tent city that Israel designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted. The Israeli military said it struck senior Hamas militants involved in terrorist activities in the area, without providing additional details, and said it took precautions to minimize harm to civilians. The strike on the Muwasi tent camp was one of several deadly assaults across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. An Israeli attack in central Gaza killed at least 10 more people, including four children, according to Palestinian medics. Israel's devastating war in Gaza, launched after Hamas' October 2023 attack, shows no signs of ending after nearly 14 months. Hamas is still holding dozens of Israeli hostages, and most of Gaza's population has been displaced and is reliant on ...

Israel seeks collab with India Inc, startups; aims to hire Indian workers

"We are looking at opportunities across all sectors and would like to import labour from India -both skilled and unskilled"

India votes on resolution calling for withdrawal of Israel from Palestine

India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that called for the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and reiterated the call for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in West Asia. The draft resolution Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine' tabled by Senegal was overwhelmingly adopted in the 193-member General Assembly on Tuesday. India was among the 157 nations that voted in favour, while eight Member States - Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the United States voted against it. Cameroon, Czechia, Ecuador, Georgia, Paraguay, Ukraine and Uruguay abstained. The resolution, adopted as orally revised, reiterated its call for the achievement, without delay, of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East (West Asia) on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, includi

Netanyahu thanks Donald Trump for warning Hamas to release hostages

Trump made it clear that those responsible for the hostage situation would face severe consequences