Page 79 - Israel

Hamas signals flexibility in talks with Israel, eases its ceasefire demand

The conflict between Israel and Hamas escalated following Hamas' attacks on October 7, which resulted in widespread casualties

Gaza soccer stadium now shelter for thousands of displaced Palestinians

Thousands of displaced Palestinians in northern Gaza have sought refuge in one of the territory's largest soccer arenas, where families now scrape by with little food or water as they try to keep one step ahead of Israel's latest offensive. Their makeshift tents hug the shade below the stadium's seating, with clothes hanging in the July sun across the dusty, dried-up soccer field. Under the covered benches where players used to sit, Um Bashar bathes a toddler standing in a plastic tub. Lathering soap through the boy's hair, he wiggles and shivers as she pours the chilly water over his head, and he grips the plastic seats for balance. They've been displaced multiple times, she said, most recently from Israel's renewed operations against Hamas in the Shijaiyah neighbourhood of Gaza City. We woke up and found tanks in front of the door, she says. We didn't take anything with us, not a mattress, not a pillow, not any clothes, not a thing. Not even food. She fled with a group of 70 othe

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan opted for arrest warrants over visit to Gaza

A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that initial discussions had taken place regarding a visit to Gaza by Khan, covering security and transportation

Israel conducts military operation in West Bank city; 7 Palestinians killed

The Israeli military said on Friday it was conducting counterterrorism activity that included an airstrike in the area of the West Bank city of Jenin. Palestinian authorities said four people were killed. The military said Israeli soldiers had encircled a building where terrorists have barricaded themselves in and the soldiers were exchanging fire, while an airstrike had struck several armed terrorists in the area. The Palestinian Health Ministry said four people died but did not provide any information on their identities. No further details were immediately available from either side. The clashes in Jenin, a known militant stronghold where the army frequently operates, came a day after an Israeli anti-settlement monitoring group said the government plans to build nearly 5,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank. The construction plans revealed by the Peace Now group are part of the hard-line government's efforts to beef up settlements as part of a strategy of ...

Amid big UK election win, Labour Party loses 4 seats to pro-Gaza candidates

Labour party, which has long counted on the backing of Muslim and other minority groups, saw its vote fall on average by 10 points in seats where more than 10 per cent of population identify as Muslim

Mossad chief goes to Qatar for talks with Hamas over Gaza ceasefire

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet discussed Hamas' latest offer on Thursday. He then held a 30-minute call with US President Joe Biden

Hamas broadly agrees with cease-fire framework with Israel: US official

The official spoke after a half-hour phone meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

After killing of commander, Hezbollah attacks Israel with over 200 rockets

The Israeli military said "numerous projectiles and suspicious aerial targets" had entered its territory from Lebanon, many of which it said were intercepted

Israel weighs Hamas' response to cease-fire proposal as diplomacy revives

Israel's Cabinet was set to convene on Thursday to discuss Hamas' latest response to a US-backed proposal for a phased cease-fire in Gaza, as diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the nine-month war stirred back to life after a weekslong hiatus. Fighting, meanwhile, has intensified between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, with the militant group saying it fired more than 200 rockets and exploding drones into northern Israel to avenge the killing of a senior commander in an Israeli airstrike the day before. The relatively low-level conflict has literally set the border ablaze, and raised fears of a potentially even more devastating war in the Middle East. Hezbollah has said it will halt its attacks if there is a cease-fire between Hamas a fellow Iran-backed ally and Israel. The United States has rallied world support behind a plan that would see the release of all of the scores of hostages still held by the militant group in return for a lasting truce and the withdrawal of Israeli forc

Australia: Pro-Palestinians breach Parliament's security; unfurl banners

Pro-Palestinian protesters breached security at Australia's Parliament House to unfurl banners from the roof on Thursday as a senator quit the government over its direction on the Gaza war. Tensions over Israel's war against Hamas dominated Parliament's final sitting day before a five-week break. The four protesters were arrested after draping the words war crimes" and genocide as well as the Palestinian rallying cry from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free for more than an hour over the building's facade known as the Great Verandah. Inside the building, Afghanistan-born Sen. Fatima Payman, the only Australian federal lawmaker ever to wear a hajib during sittings, announced she had quit the ruling Labour Party over her refusal to toe the party line on Gaza. My family did not flee from a war-torn country to come here as refugees for me to remain silent when I see atrocities inflicted on innocent people, Payman told reporters. Witnessing our government's indifference to the

Fires are most visible sign on border as Hezbollah-Israel fight continues

With cease-fire talks faltering in Gaza and no clear offramp for the conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border, the daily exchanges of strikes between Hezbollah and Israeli forces have sparked fires that are tearing through forests and farmland on both sides of the frontline. The blazes exacerbated by supply shortages and security concerns have consumed thousands of hectares of land in southern Lebanon and northern Israel, becoming one of the most visible signs of the escalating conflict. There is an increasingly real possibility of a full-scale war one that would have catastrophic consequences for people on both sides of the border. Some fear the fires sparked by a larger conflict would also cause irreversible damage to the land. Charred remains in Lebanon In Israel, images of fires sparked by Hezbollah's rockets have driven public outrage and spurred Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, to declare last month that it is time for all of Lebanon to burn. M

Israel introduces new entry system for foreign tourists: Details here

Tourists from 99 countries on Israel's short-stay visa exemption list must now apply for an electronic travel authorisation

Alleging rocket attack on its territory, Israel hits Hamas sites in Gaza

Among the targets that were attacked were a weapons warehouse, apartments used as operations control centers and other terrorist infrastructures

Israel orders mass evacuation, signals new assault on southern Gaza city

The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault in the Gaza Strip's second largest city. The order suggested Khan Younis will be the target in the latest of Israel's repeated raids into parts of Gaza it had previously invaded during the past mearly nine months, pursuing Hamas militants as they regroup. Much of Khan Younis was already destroyed in a long assault earlier this year, but large numbers of Palestinians have since moved back in to escape another Israeli offensive in Gaza's southern-most city, Rafah. The order came as Israel released the director of Gaza's main hospital after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command centre. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured. The decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia raised questions over Israel's claims surrounding .

Israel releases head of Gaza's main hospital 7 months after hospital raid

Israel released the director of Gaza's main hospital on Monday, seven months after the military raided the facility over allegations it was being used as a Hamas command centre. The release of Mohammed Abu Selmia without charge or trial raised further questions about Israel's allegations regarding Shifa Hospital, which its forces have raided on two occasions since the start of its nearly nine-month war with Hamas. Abu Selmia said he and other prisoners had been tortured and held under harsh conditions, allegations that could not be independently confirmed but matched other accounts of Palestinian detainees who have been released back into Gaza. Our detainees have been subjected to all kinds of torture behind bars, he said. There was almost daily torture. Cells are broken into and prisoners are beaten. He said guards broke his finger and caused his head to bleed during beatings, in which they used batons and dogs. He said the medical staff at different facilities where he was held h

Israel's Netanyahu vows to fight on as mediators seek new path to talks

Israel's goals continue to include freeing the remaining hostages held in Gaza and ensuring the area never constitutes a threat to Israel again, Netanyahu said at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting

Israeli tanks advance into areas in north and south Gaza, fighting rages

Israeli tanks, which moved back into Shejaia four days ago, fired shells towards several houses, leaving families trapped inside and unable to leave, the residents said

5,000 new housing units planned for city of Sderot in Northern Gaza

The plan sees the complex surrounding the train station as a central and significant focal point in the region

US, Europe warn Hezbollah to ease strikes on Israel, back off from war

US, European and Arab mediators are pressing to keep stepped-up cross-border attacks between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah militants from spiralling into a wider Middle East war that the world has feared for months. Hopes are lagging for a cease-fire anytime soon in Israel's conflict with Hamas in Gaza that would calm attacks by Hezbollah and other Iranian-allied militias. With that in mind, American and European officials are delivering warnings to Hezbollah, which is far stronger than Hamas but seen as overconfident, about taking on the military might of Israel, current and former diplomats say. They are warning that the group should not count on the United States or anyone else being able to hold off Israeli leaders if they decide to execute battle-ready plans for an offensive into Lebanon. And Hezbollah should not count on its fighters' ability to handle whatever would come next. On both sides of the Lebanese border, escalating strikes between Israel and Hezbollah, one of the .

Iran votes to replace Prez killed in chopper crash, but apathy remains high

Iranians were voting Friday in a snap election to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash last month, as public apathy has become pervasive in the Islamic Republic after years of economic woes, mass protests and tensions in the Middle East. Voters face a choice between hard-line candidates and a little-known politician who belongs to Iran's reformist movement that seeks to change its Shiite theocracy from within. As has been the case since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, women and those calling for radical change have been barred from the ballot while the vote itself will have no oversight from internationally recognised monitors. The voting comes as wider tensions have gripped the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. In April, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel over the war in Gaza, while militia groups that Tehran arms in the region such as the Lebanese Hezbollah and Yemen's Houthi rebels are engaged in the fight