Page 89 - Israel

Israeli tanks have rolled into Rafah, Here's what it means for Palestinians

The Israeli tanks that entered the periphery of Rafah early Tuesday stoked global fears that an offensive on Gaza's southernmost city could endanger the more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there. The ground assault dimmed hopes of an immediate cease-fire deal that the US, Egypt and Qatar have spent months pushing for. In the hours before the attack began, Hamas agreed to a cease-fire proposal that the Israeli government swiftly rejected. About 1.3 million Palestinians more than half of Gaza's population are jammed into Rafah and face the prospect of having to evacuate with no good plan for where to find adequate shelter. Here's what we know so far about the operation and evacuation plan. WHERE WILL PALESTINIANS GO? Now that Israel has begun ordering Palestinians to evacuate parts of Rafah, it is sending them to a patch of land whose current inhabitants say is little more than a makeshift tent camp with squalid conditions. On Monday, Israel issued a warning to .

US colleges earlier permissive of protests begin taking tougher stance

Police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the University of Chicago on Tuesday after administrators who had initially adopted a permissive approach said the protest had crossed a line and caused growing concerns about safety. University President Paul Alivisatos acknowledged the school's role as a protector of freedom of speech after officers in riot gear blocked access to the school's Quad but also took an enough-is-enough stance. The university remains a place where dissenting voices have many avenues to express themselves, but we cannot enable an environment where the expression of some dominates and disrupts the healthy functioning of the community for the rest, Alivisatos wrote in a message to the university community. Tensions have continued to ratchet up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the U.S. and increasingly, in Europe nearly three weeks into a movement launched by a protest at Columbia University. Some colleges cracked down immediately on ...

Israeli forces take control of Gaza side of Rafah crossing with Egypt

The Israeli military said it had established operational control over the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip overnight Monday into Tuesday. Footage broadcast on Israeli media showed an Israeli flag flying on the Gaza side of the crossing, though the Israeli army refused to comment on the flag. On Monday night, the Israeli military said it was carrying out targeted strikes in eastern Rafah. It said 20 Hamas militants were killed in the operation and it discovered three tunnel shafts. An Israeli army official said the vast majority of people located in the evacuation zone have left. The crossing, just south of Gaza City, was taken over by Israeli tanks that are part of an armoured brigade, the Israeli Defence Forces and Palestinian officials said. Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Palestinian Crossings Authority, said the crossing, the main entry of humanitarian aid to the war-torn strip, was out of service. The whole western area (of Rafah) has become a the

Hamas accepts cease-fire proposal for Gaza, but Israel still uncertain

Hamas announced Monday it has accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but there was no immediate word from Israel, leaving it uncertain whether a deal had been sealed to bring a halt to the seven-month-long war in Gaza. It was the first glimmer of hope that a deal might avert further bloodshed. Hours earlier, Israel ordered some 100,000 Palestinians to begin evacuating the southern Gaza town of Rafah, signalling that an attack was imminent. The United States and other key allies of Israel oppose an offensive on Rafah, where around 1.4 million Palestinians, more than half of Gaza's population, are sheltering. An official familiar with Israeli thinking said Israeli officials were examining the proposal, but the plan approved by Hamas was not the framework Israel proposed. An American official also said the US was still waiting to learn more about the Hamas position and whether it reflected an agreement to what had already been signed off on by Israel and international ...

Will Israel-Hamas war end soon?

Israeli forces have taken control of the Rafah crossing in Gaza amidst its military offensive in Rafah even after Hamas agreed to a ceasefire proposal. Watch the video to know why.

Israeli military seizes Rafah border crossing, steps up attacks on Gaza

The Israeli offensive took place as mediators struggled to secure a ceasefire agreement between Israel and its Hamas foes and as the conflict entered its 8th month

Malaysia defends companies supplying weapons to Israel at defence show

Malaysia will not interfere in business relations between arms manufacturers and other countries, its defence minister said Tuesday, after protesters demanded that the government expel companies that supply weapons to Israel from an international exhibition. More than 1,300 companies from 60 nations are participating in Defence Services Asia and the concurrent National Security Asia exhibitions that started Monday. The events are hosted and co-organised by Malaysia's Defence Ministry and Home Affairs Ministry. The Solidarity for Palestinian coalition held a brief rally outside the exhibition centre on Tuesday to protest the presence of US weapons maker Lockheed Martin, European missile manufacturer MBDA and others that provide arms to Israel. The coalition accused the manufacturers of being complicit in Israel's offensive in Gaza. They said the companies' presence was inconsistent with the Malaysian government's support of Palestinian statehood and insensitive to the many Malaysians

More civilians will be killed in Rafah despite Israel's claims: Borrell

There are no safe zones in Gaza, EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell told journalists

Pro-Palestinian protestors retake MIT protest site, other buildings

A Monday deadline for pro-Palestinian protesters to leave an encampment at Massachusetts Institute of Technology cleared many demonstrators only to have the site retaken while protesters at the Rhode Island School of Design began occupying a building in the ongoing protest movement connected to the Israel-Hamas war. At MIT, protesters were given an afternoon deadline in which to voluntarily leave the protest site or face suspension. Many left, according to an MIT spokesperson, who said protesters breached fencing after the arrival of demonstrators from outside the university. On Monday night, dozens of protesters remained at the encampment in a calmer atmosphere, listening to speakers and chanting before taking a pizza dinner break. Sam Ihns, a graduate student at MIT studying mechanical engineering and a member of MIT Jews for a Ceasefire, said the group has been at the encampment for the past two weeks and that they were calling for an end to the killing in Gaza. Specifically, our

Palestinian, Egyptian officials say Israeli tanks enter Gaza town Rafah

A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official say Israeli tanks entered the southern Gaza town of Rafah, reaching as close as 200 metres from its crossing with neighbouring Egypt. The Egyptian official said the operation appeared to be limited in scope. He and Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV said Israeli officials informed the Egyptians that the troops would withdraw after completing the operation. The Israeli military declined to comment. On Sunday, Hamas fighters near the Rafah crossing fired mortars into southern Israel, killing four Israeli soldiers. The Egyptian official, located on the Egyptian side of Rafah, and the Palestinian security official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press. The Associated Press could not independently verify the scope of the operation. Earlier Monday, Israel's War Cabinet decided to push ahead with a military operation in Rafah, after Hamas announced its acceptance of an Egyptian-Qatari proposal for a .

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Israel carries out airstrikes on Gaza city of Rafah after evacuation order

Seven months into its war against Hamas, Israel has been threatening to launch incursions in Rafah, which it says harbours thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of hostages

Targeting journalists a crime, says Al Jazeera as Israel shuts down channel

Al Jazeera Media Network stated that it would pursue legal channels through international legal institutions against the Israeli cabinet's decision to shut down its offices in the country

Netanyahu's Cabinet votes to shut down Al Jazeera offices in Israel

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera, escalating Israel's long-running feud with the channel at a time when cease-fire negotiations with Hamas - mediated by Qatar - are gaining steam. Netanyahu announced the decision on X, formerly Twitter, but details on the implications of the step on the channel, when it would go into effect or whether the measure was permanent or temporary were not immediately clear. My government decided unanimously: the incitement channel Al Jazeera will close in Israel, Netanyahu posted on X. Al Jazeera has vehemently denied that it incites against Israel. There was no immediate comment from the channel headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha. But several Al Jazeera correspondents went on air to give their understanding on how the decision would affect the channel. An Al Jazeera correspondent on its Arabic service said the ord

Ashoka University students ask VC to cut ties with Tel Aviv University

Students at Ashoka University have joined the chorus of protests against the ongoing war in Gaza and have urged the vice-chancellor to end all academic and research collaborations with Israel-based Tel Aviv University. Ashoka University student government, an elected student body, said in a letter to the vice chancellor that the university's collaboration with institutions involved in human rights violations undermines its commitment to justice and human rights. "We are deeply concerned about the ongoing genocide in Palestine in which at least 34,596 Palestinians have lost their lives and 77,816 have been injured due to the Israeli war on Gaza. As the Israeli military's brutality persists...students across universities are now actively calling on their institutions to boycott Israeli universities and exchange programmes, to have open dialogue about the war on Gaza. "The spirit and the results of ongoing protests in the universities in the form of encampments -- embarked on by the ..

Israel bans Al Jazeera over Gaza war coverage; calls it Hamas mouthpiece

Israel's government has ceased operations of Qatar-based network Al Jazeera in the country. Reacting to the ban, Al Jazeera said that it was a “criminal act”, and critics called it a 'dark day

Israeli airstrike kills four civilians in southern Lebanon: Report

An Israeli airstrike Sunday in the town of Mays al Jabal in south Lebanon killed four civilians and wounded several others, Lebanese state media and the town's municipality reported. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the strike took place while a number of the town's residents were inspecting their homes and shops and the damage they sustained in previous strikes. Those attacks came over seven months of near-daily clashes between the Hezbollah militant group and Israeli forces against the backdrop of Israel's war against Hezbollah ally Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said its jet targeted military infrastructure in the southern Lebanese town belonging to Hezbollah, which has clashed with Israeli troops since October 8. Hezbollah on Sunday said it conducted at least 10 attacks targeting Israeli military positions and surveillance gear near the tense Lebanon-Israel border, while the Israeli military said it identified some 40 missiles that crossed in

Netanyahu uses Holocaust ceremony to brush off int'l pressure against Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected international pressure to halt the war in Gaza in a fiery speech marking the country's annual Holocaust memorial day, declaring: If Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. The message, delivered in a setting that typically avoids politics, was aimed at the growing chorus of world leaders who have criticised the heavy toll caused by Israel's military offensive against Hamas militants and have urged the sides to agree to a cease-fire. I say to the leaders of the world: No amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself, he said. Never again is now. Yom Hashoah, the day Israel observes as a memorial for the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany and its allies in the Holocaust, is one of the most solemn dates on the country's calendar, and speeches at the ceremony generally avoid politics. Netanyahu also compared the recent wave of protests on American campus

Arab nations pushing for roadmap leading to Palestinian state within 3 yrs

The proposed roadmap, endorsed by Arab foreign ministers and supported by European nations, outlines a phased approach towards Palestinian statehood

Progress in Gaza truce talks, Israel downplays chance of ending war

A delegation of the Palestinian militant group Hamas was in Cairo on Saturday as Egyptian state media reported noticeable progress in cease-fire talks with Israel, though an Israeli official downplayed the prospects for a full end to the war in Gaza. Pressure has mounted to reach a deal halting the nearly 7-month-long war. A top UN official says there is now a full-blown famine in northern Gaza, while Israel insists it will launch an offensive into Rafah, the territory's southernmost city on the border with Egypt, where more than 1 million Palestinians are sheltering. Egyptian and US mediators have reported signs of compromise in recent days, but chances for a cease-fire deal remain entangled with the key question of whether Israel will accept an end to the war without reaching its stated goal of destroying Hamas. Egypt's state-owned Al-Qahera News TV channel said Saturday that a consensus had been reached over many disputed points but did not elaborate. Hamas has called for a ...