Page 86 - Israel

Top United Nations court orders Israel to halt military operation in Rafah

The top United Nations court has ordered Israel to halt its military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. Israel insists it has the right to defend itself from Hamas militants and is unlikely to comply with the ruling. The order by the International Court of Justice further ratchets up international pressure on an increasingly isolated Israel to rein in its war on Hamas in Gaza. Friday's decision marked the third time this year the 15-judge panel has issued preliminary orders seeking to rein in the death toll and alleviate humanitarian suffering in Gaza. While orders are legally binding, the court has no police to enforce them.

Bodies of 3 more hostages recovered overnight from Gaza, says Israel army

The bodies of three more hostages killed on October 7 were recovered overnight from Gaza, Israel's army said on Friday. The bodies of Hanan Yablonka, Michel Nisenbaum, and Orion Hernandez were found and their families have been notified. The army said they were killed on the day of the attack at the Mefalsim intersection and their bodies were taken to Gaza. The announcement comes less than a week after the army said it found the bodies of three other Israeli hostages killed on October 7. Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people, mainly civilians, and abducted around 250 others in the October 7 attack. Around half of those hostages have since been freed, most in swaps for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during a weeklong cease-fire in November. Israel says around 100 hostages are still captive in Gaza, along with the bodies of around 30 more.

How is the Red Sea crisis making your TVs, ACs costlier? Key details

Sea freight expenses from China are rising due to a shortage of shipping containers resulting from the Iran-Israel conflicts

Hezbollah's prominent weapons manufacturer killed in Israeli airstrike

Hezbollah responded by firing barrages of rockets at northern Israel. The rockets triggered brush fires in the Hula Valley

Israel to revive ceasefire talks with Hamas after outcry on abduction video

Cease-fire talks stalled last week after Israel invaded Rafah, a southern city in Gaza

Israel plans to ban diplomatic visits and visas for Norway, Ireland, Spain

Norway, Ireland, and Spain announced on Wednesday their countries' intentions to formally recognise a Palestinian state in the coming days

'Watch': Israel shares new video of 'cruel' Hamas as global support weakens

Israel-Hamas are locked into the Gaza war, in which 35,000 people have died so far. Releasing a new video, Israel urged the world 'not to look away' while directing its attention to 'cruelty' of Hamas

With Hamas firm, fighting back in Gaza, Israel faces only bad options

Diminished but not deterred, Hamas is still putting up a fight after seven brutal months of war with Israel, regrouping in some of the hardest-hit areas in northern Gaza and resuming rocket attacks into nearby Israeli communities. Israel initially made tactical advances against Hamas after a devastating aerial bombardment paved the way for its ground troops. But those early gains have given way to a grinding struggle against an adaptable insurgency and a growing feeling among many Israelis that their military faces only bad options, drawing comparisons with US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. This was the subtext of a rebellion in recent days by two members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's three-man War Cabinet Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main political rival who demanded that he come up with detailed postwar plans. They supported Israel's retaliation for Hamas' October 7 attack, including one of the heaviest bombing campaigns in recent history,

Missile splashes into Red Sea, no damage caused in suspected Houthi attack

A missile splashed down in the waters of the Red Sea on Thursday, but caused no damage to a passing commercial vessel in an attack likely carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take hours or even days for them to acknowledge their assaults. The attack happened in the southern Red Sea near the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. The private security firm Ambrey similarly reported the attack. The Houthis have launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in recent months, demanding that Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostage. The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sunk another since November, according to the

First aid from US pier in Gaza reaches starving Palestinians, says UN

The U.N. World Food Program said Wednesday that it has handed out in Gaza in recent days a limited number of high-energy biscuits that arrived from a U.S.-built pier, the first aid from the new humanitarian sea route to get into the hands of Palestinians in grave need. The small number of biscuits came in the first shipments unloaded from the pier Friday, WFP spokesman Steve Taravella said. The U.S. Agency for International Development told The Associated Press that a total of 41 trucks loaded with aid from the more than $320 million pier have reached humanitarian organizations in Gaza. Aid is flowing from the pier, U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters Wednesday in response to questions about the troubled launch of aid deliveries from the maritime project. It is not flowing at a rate that any of us are happy with. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters Tuesday that he did not believe any of the aid from the pier had yet reached people in Gaz

ICC arrest warrants on Israeli leaders extremely wrongheaded, says Blinken

He added that the administration was looking at "appropriate steps to take" on the prosecutor's decision, without commenting further

Spain, Ireland, Norway to recognise a Palestinian state. Why it matters?

Spain, Ireland and Norway said on Wednesday that they would recognise a Palestinian state on May 28, a step toward a long-held Palestinian aspiration that came amid international outrage over the civilian death toll and humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip following Israel's offensive. The triple and almost simultaneous decisions may generate momentum for the recognition of a Palestinian state by other EU countries and could spur further steps at the United Nations, deepening Israel's isolation. Malta and Slovenia, which also belong to the 27-nation European Union, may follow suit. Some 140 of 190 represented in the UN countries have already recognised a Palestinian state. Here's a look at how and why the new European announcements could be important: WHY DOES IT MATTER? The 1948 UN decision that created Israel envisaged a neighbouring Palestinian state, but some 70 years later control of the Palestinian territories remains divided and bids for UN membership have been denied. T

On National Day, Israel Prez commends PM Modi's support after Hamas attacks

Highlighting the growing importance of India's role in global leadership, President Herzog said that New Delhi has continued to speak loudly and clearly for Israel

Israel addressed many of Biden's concerns over Rafah operation: US official

Israel has addressed many of President Joe Biden's concerns over its long-simmering plan to carry out a widescale military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah aimed at rooting out Hamas, a senior Biden administration official said Tuesday. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said that in talks over the weekend with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, Israeli officials incorporated many changes into their planning that seem to meet concerns about deepening an operation in an area that has been flooded with Palestinian refugees during the seven-month war. Biden had previously said he opposed a widescale operation in Rafah that did not prioritize the safety of innocent Palestinian civilians. The official said the administration stopped short of greenlighting the Israeli plan but said Israeli officials' altered planning suggested they were taking the American administration's concerns seriously. About 900,000 ...

UN halts all food distribution in Rafah after running out of supplies

The United Nations suspended food distribution in the southern Gaza city of Rafah on Tuesday due to a lack of supplies and an untenable security situation caused by Israel's expanding military operation. It warned that humanitarian operations across the territory were nearing collapse. Along with closed and chaotic land crossings, problems also plagued the U.S. military's floating pier meant to provide an alternative route for aid into Gaza by sea. Over the weekend, hungry Palestinians took aid from a U.N. vehicle convoy coming from the pier, and the U.N. said since then it had been unable to receive trucks there. Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters in Washington that for the past few days, forward movement of aid from the pier was paused but it resumed Tuesday. There was no confirmation from the U.N. The U.N. has not specified how many people stayed in Rafah since the Israeli military began its intensified ground and air campaign there two weeks ago, but ...

France, Belgium support bid for arrest warrants of Israel, Hamas leaders

The accusations center on war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip and Israel

What's happening in Gaza is not genocide, says Biden as he defends Israel

Biden has faced protests at many of his events around the country from pro-Palestinian advocates who have labeled him Genocide Joe for his steadfast support for Israel

Biden defends Israel amid ICC warrant

US President Joe Biden has denounced the warrant against Israeli leaders by the world’s top war crimes court. In a White House statement Biden has defended Israel’s actions in Gaza. Watch the video to

Israeli, Hamas leaders join list of people accused by top war crimes court

By accusing the heads of Israel and Hamas of war crimes, the International Criminal Court's top prosecutor placed them among world leaders infamous for heinous acts against humanity. The chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced arrest warrants Monday against two Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and three Hamas leaders. The prosecutor focused on actions taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 when militants stormed southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, and on Israel's military response in Gaza, which has killed roughly 35,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry. Netanyahu condemned the decision Monday, calling it a complete distortion of reality. I reject with disgust the Hague prosecutor's comparison between democratic Israel and the mass murderers of Hamas, Netanyahu said. In a statement, Hamas accused the prosecutor of trying to equate the victim with the executioner. It said it has the right to resist Israeli ...

Satellite photos show Palestinians' exodus after Israel's evacuation orders

Newly-released satellite photos reviewed by the Associated Press show a large exodus of Palestinians from the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah earlier this month ahead of a feared Israeli ground invasion there. The photos taken three days apart first on May 5 and then on May 8 show the change on the ground after Israel issued its first evacuation order for the city on May 6. They show that crowded tent camps in the central and northwest regions of the city grew sparse within days of the order. One pair of before-and-after photos shows an area near the Tel al-Sultan refugee camp, one of the camps built for families displaced during the war surrounding the creation of Israel in 1948. In the three days between the photos, at least half of the hundreds of tents cramming the area disappeared, likely from Palestinians packing up and departing. The other pair of photos shows the central Ash Shabourah neighborhood of Rafah city. Tents packing city streets give way to sandy patches. The