Page 82 - Israel

More than 1.5 mn foreign Muslims arrive in Mecca for annual Hajj pilgrimage

Muslim pilgrims have been streaming into Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca ahead of the start of the Hajj later this week, as the annual pilgrimage returns to its monumental scale. Saudi officials say more than 1.5 million foreign pilgrims have arrived in the country by Tuesday, the vast majority by air, from across the world. More are expected, and hundreds of thousands of Saudis and others living in Saudi Arabia will also join them when the pilgrimage officially begins on Friday. Saudi officials have said they expect the number of pilgrims this year to exceed 2023, when more than 1.8 million people performed Hajj, approaching pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, more than 2.4 million Muslims made the pilgrimage. The pilgrims included 4,200 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank who arrived in Mecca earlier this month, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were not able to travel to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year, because

Hamas responds to Gaza cease-fire plan; US says it is evaluating reply

Hamas said Tuesday that it gave mediators its reply to the US-backed proposal for a cease-fire in Gaza, seeking some "amendments" on the deal. It appeared the reply was short of an outright acceptance that the United States has been pushing for but kept negotiations alive over an elusive halt to the eight-month war. The foreign ministries of Qatar and Egypt who have been key mediators alongside the United States confirmed that they had received Hamas' response and said mediators were studying it. "We're in receipt of this reply that Hamas delivered to Qatar and to Egypt, and we are evaluating it right now," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters in Washington. Hamas spokesman Jihad Taha said the response included amendments that confirm the cease-fire, withdrawal, reconstruction and (prisoner) exchange. Taha did not elaborate. But while supporting the broad outlines of the deal, Hamas officials have expressed wariness over whether Israel would implement

Israeli forces, Palestinians may have committed war crimes in raid: UNHRC

The UN human rights office is citing possible war crimes by Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups in connection with a deadly raid by Israeli forces that freed four hostages over the weekend and killed hundreds of Palestinians. Office spokesman Jeremy Laurence expressed concerns about possible violations of rules of proportionality, distinction and precaution by the Israeli forces in Saturday's raid at the urban Nuseirat refugee camp. Palestinian health officials say at least 274 Palestinians, including dozens of women and children, were killed in the operation. Laurence said Palestinian armed groups who are holding hostages in densely populated areas are putting the lives of nearby civilians and the hostages at added risks from the hostilities. All these actions by both parties may amount to war crimes, he told a regular U.N. briefing in Geneva. It was catastrophic, the way that this was carried out in that civilians again were caught smack bang in the middle of this, ...

Blinken says Netanyahu agrees to ceasefire plan for Israel-Hamas war

Later on Tuesday during a stop in neighboring Jordan, Blinken pledged more than $400 million in US assistance for Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and the broader region

'Seeds of Summer', How Israel rescued 4 hostages from Gaza | Israel - Hamas war

4 hostages have been rescued by the Israeli military from central Gaza. These hostages were captured on October 7 when Hamas had launched an attack on southern Israel.

Blinken pushes Israel on postwar Gaza plans as pressure mounts on Hamas

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged top Israeli officials on Monday to accept and implement a plan for postwar Gaza as he pushed for more international pressure on Hamas to agree to a cease-fire proposal newly endorsed by the UN Security Council. On his latest urgent mission to the Middle East his eighth since the Israel-Hamas war began in October Blinken met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant after talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi to push the proposal, which faces new uncertainty following Israel's hostage rescue operation that killed many Palestinians and turmoil in Netanyahu's government. Blinken told Netanyahu that the United States and other world leaders will stand behind the comprehensive proposal outlined by President Biden that would lead to an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and a significant and sustained increase in humanitarian assistance for distribution ...

Houthis claim to break up US-Israel spy network after arresting UN staffers

Yemen's Houthi rebels said Monday they had arrested members of an American-Israeli spy network, days after detaining at least 11 UN staffers along with others from aid organisations. Maj. Gen. Abdulhakim al-Khayewani, head of the Houthis' intelligence agency, announced the arrests, saying the spy network had first operated out of the US Embassy in Sanaa. Then after it was closed in 2015 following the Houthi takeover of the capital Sanaa and northern Yemen, they continued their subversive agenda under the cover of international and UN organisations, he said. He did not say how many people were arrested. Houthi authorities issued what they purported to be videotaped confessions by 10 Yemenis, several of whom said they were recruited by the US Embassy. They did not include any of the UN employees who were arrested. The Houthis' claims could not be independently verified. The United Nations on Friday announced the arrests of 11 Yemeni staffers. Six worked for the UN's human rights agenc

Israeli Min Benny Gantz quits Netanyahu's cabinet over handling of Gaza war

Gantz's decision comes at a time when the war between Israel and Hamas is in its eighth month, and the situation in West Asia remains fragile

Israel rescues 4 hostages from Hamas; is ceasefire deal now a prospect?

Israel's dramatic weekend rescue of four hostages from deep inside an urban area of the Gaza Strip came at a sensitive time in the 8-month-old war, as Israel and Hamas weigh a US proposal for a cease-fire and the release of the remaining captives. Both sides face renewed pressure to make a deal: The complex rescue is unlikely to be replicated on a scale needed to bring back scores of remaining hostages, and it was a powerful reminder for Israelis that there are still surviving captives held in harsh conditions. Hamas now has four fewer bargaining chips. But they could also dig in, as they repeatedly have over months of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt. Hamas is still insisting on an end to the war as part of any agreement, while Israel says it is still committed to destroying the militant group. Here is a look at the fallout from the operation and how it might affect cease-fire talks: ELATION, AND MOUNTING CALLS FOR A DEAL The rescue operation w

Activists should turn down heat: Australia PM after US consulate attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to turn the heat down after the US Consulate in Sydney was vandalised on Monday. CCTV footage showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3 am, a police statement said. Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, were also painted on the front of the building. Albanese urged people to have respectful political debate and discourse. People are traumatised by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Albanese told reporters. And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property, Albanes

UN food agency pauses aid work at US pier in Gaza over security concerns

The director of the UN World Food Program said Sunday the programme has paused its distribution of humanitarian aid from an American-built pier off Gaza, saying she was concerned about the safety of our people" after what had been one of the deadliest days of the war there. Saturday saw both an Israeli military assault that freed four hostages but left 274 Palestinians and one Israeli commando dead, and, Cindy McCain said, two of WFP's warehouses in Gaza had been rocketed and a staffer injured. Sunday's UN announcement of the pause appears the latest setback for the US sea route, set up to try to bring more aid to Gaza's starving people. The US Agency for International Development described the pause as a step to allow for a security review by the humanitarian community in Gaza. USAID works with the World Food Program and their humanitarian partners in Gaza to distribute food and other aid coming from the US-operated pier. Completed in mid-May, the US pier was operational for only

Israeli govt extends ban on Al Jazeera operations by another 45 days

Regarding the ban, the Israeli minister asserted, saying that it was unanimously adopted by the government, based on updated opinions from all security sources

'274 Palestinians were killed in Israeli raid that rescued 4 hostages'

Gaza's Health Ministry says at least 274 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli air and ground raid that rescued four hostages held by Hamas. The ministry said Sunday that around 700 people were wounded in Saturday's operation. The operation deep into central Gaza was the largest rescue operation since October 7, when Hamas and other militants stormed across the border, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. Israel launched a massive offensive in response that has killed over 36,700 Palestinians, according to local health officials. Israelis celebrated the return of Noa Argamani, 26; Almog Meir Jan, 22; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 41, after Israeli forces raided two locations at once while under fire.

Colombia will suspend coal exports to Israel over Gaza war, says Prez Petro

Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced on Saturday that his country will suspend coal exports to Israel over the war in Gaza, as relations sour between two countries that were once close military and commercial allies. Petro wrote on the social media platform X that coal exports will only resume when the genocide in Gaza stops. Petro also posted a draft decree, which says that coal exports will only resume if Israel complies with a recent order by the International Court of Justice that says Israel should withdraw its troops from the Gaza strip. According to Colombia's National Statistics Department, coal exports to Israel were worth more than $320 million in the first eight months of last year. That's a small fraction of the nation's overall coal exports which were worth more than $9 billion in 2023. Israel imports more than 50% of its coal from Colombia, according to the American Journal for Transportation, and uses much of it to feed its power plants. Petro, who was elected

Israel rescues 4 hostages in Gaza raid; Hamas says 210 Palestinians killed

Israel said Saturday it rescued four hostages who were kidnapped in a Hamas-led attack on October 7. The army said it rescued Noa Argamani,25, Almog Meir Jan 21, Andrey Kozlov 27, and Shlomi Ziv (40), in a complex special daytime operation in Nuseirat. The hostages were rescued in two separate locations in the heart of Nuseirat, it said. Hamas kidnapped some 250 hostages during its attack on southern Israel on October 7. About half were released in a week-long cease-fire in November. Israel says more than 130 hostages remain, with about a quarter of those believed dead, and divisions are deepening in the country over the best way to bring them home. Saturday's operation is the largest recovery of alive hostages since the war erupted, bringing the total of rescued captives to seven.

At least 94 Palestinians killed in Gaza during hostage rescue operation

An official at a hospital in central Gaza says at least 94 bodies have arrived during heavy fighting. Khalil Degran spoke to The Associated Press as fighting continued in the part of Gaza where the Israeli military rescued four hostages Saturday morning. The official says more than 100 wounded have also arrived at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah. Israel said after the hostage release that it would continue fighting until all taken in the October 7 attack that started the war are freed.

US making biggest push to halt Israel, Hamas fighting. Is it succeeding?

In Middle East capitals, at the United Nations, from the White House and beyond, the Biden administration is making its most concentrated diplomatic push of the eight-month-old war in Gaza to persuade Israeli and Hamas leaders to take a proposed deal that would bring a cease-fire and release of more hostages. But one week into the U.S. pressure campaign, the world still is waiting for signs that the cease-fire appeal begun May 31 by President Joe Biden was working, by moving Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leaders toward a negotiating breakthrough. For Israel and Hamas, the U.S. diplomatic press has become a public test of whether either side is ready to stop fighting at least on any terms that fall short of their professed goals, whether it's the complete crushing of the militant group or the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. For Biden, who describes the proposal as Israeli, it's the latest high-profile test of U.S. leadership in trying to convin

As war in Gaza surges, 'Iran-backed' attacks on US brands rattle Baghdad

A dozen masked men jump out of two SUVs and a white pickup and storm a KFC in Baghdad, smashing everything in sight before fleeing the scene. A few days earlier, similar violence played out at Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken and Chili House all American brands popular in the Iraqi capital. Though no one was seriously hurt, the recent attacks apparently orchestrated by supporters of Iran-backed, anti-American militias in Iraq reflect surging anger against the United States, Israel's top ally, over the war in Gaza. Iraqi governments have for years walked a delicate line between Washington and Tehran, but the eight-month war in Gaza has critically upped the stakes. The conflict erupted after the militant Hamas group stormed into southern Israel on October 7, killing some 1,200 people mostly civilians and taking 250 hostage. Israel's subsequent offensives in Gaza have killed more than 36,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to the Health Ministry there. Days after the war brok

Israeli strikes Gaza school 'being used by Hamas'; kills 33 people

An Israeli strike early on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said that Hamas militants were operating from within the school. It was the latest instance of mass casualties among Palestinians trying to find refuge as Israel expands its offensive. A day earlier, the military announced a new ground and air assault in central Gaza, pursuing Hamas militants it says have regrouped there. Troops repeatedly have swept back into parts of the Gaza Strip they have previously invaded, underscoring the resilience of the militant group despite Israel's nearly eight-month onslaught. Witnesses and hospital officials said the predawn strike hit the al-Sardi School, run by the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees known by the acronym UNRWA. The school was filled with Palestinians who had fled Israeli operations and bombardment in northern Gaza, they

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu set to address US Congress on July 24

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address a joint meeting of Congress on July 24, setting the stage for what is expected to be a contentious speech at a crucial moment for the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Congressional leaders confirmed the date of the address late Thursday after formally inviting Netanyahu to come speak before lawmakers last week. It is the most recent show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel's military assault on Hamas in Gaza. The existential challenges we face, including the growing partnership between Iran, Russia, and China, threaten the security, peace, and prosperity of our countries and of free people around the world, House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, said in the letter. "To build on our enduring relationship and to highlight ..