Page 26 - Middle East

Northern Gaza residents can return once it's clear of militants: Israel

Israel's top general says the army will not allow residents of northern Gaza to return to their homes until the area is completely cleared of militants. At a press conference Tuesday, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi said that although many of the estimated 15,000 Hamas militants originally in northern Gaza had been killed or wounded, rocket launches and attacks against Israeli troops are still occurring there. He says residents will return there when it is safe to return and there are no more terror activities. Northern Gaza was the first target of Israel's ground invasion in late October, after weeks of heavy airstrikes and artillery shelling. Most of the more than 1 million people living there fled in the opening weeks of the war, which has flattened entire neighbourhoods. Israel is now threatening to expand its operation to the southern city of Rafah, where over half of Gaza's population is sheltering. Halevi says the army is weighing different options to evacuate Rafah, though no final ...

Infrastructure major L&T bags 'significant' orders in Middle East

Infrastructure major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Tuesday said that its hydrocarbon division has bagged "significant orders" from a client in the Middle East. The company did not disclose the order value. However, according to its classification, significant orders value in the range of Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,500 crore. "The Hydrocarbon vertical, L&T Energy Hydrocarbon (LTEH) of Larsen & Toubro (L&T), has secured an onshore order and an offshore order from a prestigious client in the Middle East," the infrastructure major said in a stock exchange filing. The scope of work for the onshore order comprises engineering, procurement and construction of an enclosed ground-flare system and demolition of existing facilities, reducing flame and smoke visibility to the nearby ongoing large-scale residential developments. The offshore order involves mainly brownfield work including upgradation of shutdown systems in existing offshore platforms. Larsen & Toubro is a USD 23 ...

What would be the implications of collapse of Israel-Egypt peace treaty?

It was a warm handshake between the unlikeliest of statesmen, conducted under the beaming gaze of President Jimmy Carter. Sunlight streamed through the trees at Camp David, Maryland, as Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin solidified a landmark agreement that has allowed over 40 years of peace between Israel and Egypt. It has served as an important source of stability in a volatile region. That peace has held through two Palestinian uprisings and a series of wars between Israel and Hamas. But now, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to send Israeli troops into Rafah, a city in Gaza on the border with Egypt, the Egyptian government is threatening to void the agreement. Here's a look at the history of the treaty and what could happen if it is nullified. HOW DID THE TREATY ORIGINATE? It was 1977, and Begin, Israel's new prime minister, opposed ceding any of the land Israel had conquered a decade earlier in the 1967 Mideast war. Those lands

Houthi rebels suspected of attack targeting ship in Bab el-Mandeb Strait

A ship came under attack by two missiles in the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Monday, the latest assault believed to have been carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels. No one was wounded in the attack and the ship was continuing on its journey, the British military's United Kingdom Trade Operations centre said in a statement. It wasn't clear how much damage was done to the ship. The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, but it often takes the rebels several hours to acknowledge their assaults. The rebels have been attacking ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. That has disrupted shipments through the waterways and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which connects them.

Iran marks 45th anniversary of Islamic Revolution as tensions escalate

Iran marked on Sunday the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets and squares decorated with flags, balloons and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried placards with the traditional Death to America and Death to Israel written on them. Some burned US and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies. There was a heavy security presence in the major cities across the country. The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kerman that left at least 95 people dead during the commemoration for prominent Iranian general Qassem Soleimani whom the US killed in a 2020 drone strike. Iran has tried to blame the US and Israel for the attack as the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Str

Israeli drone strike kills two, injures others in Sidon, Lebanon

An Israeli drone struck a car near Lebanon's southern port city of Sidon on Saturday, killing at least two people and wounding two others, security officials said. The strike came as tensions across the Middle East grow with the Israel-Hamas war, a drone attack last month that killed three US troops in northeastern Jordan near the Syrian border, and attacks by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on vessels passing through the Red Sea. The drone strike near the coastal town of Jadra took place about 60 kilometres from the Israeli border, making it one of the farthest inside Lebanon since violence erupted along the Lebanon-Israel border on October 8. An Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the target of the strike in Sidon was Hamas official Basel Saleh, who was "injured to an unknown extent". The official said Saleh was responsible for enlistment of new Hamas recruits in Gaza and the West Bank. Two Lebanese security officials said the strike damaged a c

Parl highlights: Lok Sabha adjourned sine die as Budget session concludes

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Biden order attaches human rights conditions to US military aid for Israel

A new directive by President Joe Biden appeared to ease a split among Democrats over his military support for Israel's war in Gaza, with lawmakers on Friday praising the order authorizing a swift cutoff of military aid to countries that violate international protections of civilians. For Biden, the commitment to conditioning U.S. military aid for Israel and other allies and strategic partners will help him shore up support among center-left Senate Democrats for his proposed $95 billion supplemental assistance package, which is aimed primarily at military aid for Ukraine in its war with Russia and for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza. Democratic senators on Friday called Biden's directive meant to bring breadth, oversight, deadlines and teeth to efforts to ensure foreign governments don't use U.S. military aid against civilians historic. This is a sea-change in terms of how you approach U.S. military aid and its impact on civilians, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said.

Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drone strikes ship as Red Sea tensions rise

A ship travelling through the southern Red Sea was attacked by a suspected Yemen Houthi rebel drone early Tuesday, authorities said, the latest assault in their campaign targeting vessels over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack happened west of Hodeida, Yemen, and the projectile caused slight damage to the vessel's windows on the bridge, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. A small vessel had been nearby the ship before the attack, it added. The private security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged, United Kingdom-owned cargo ship. No one was hurt onboard the vessel, which suffered minor damage, the firm said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicions immediately fell on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea over Israel's offensive in Gaza against Hamas. But they have frequently targeted vessels with

Yemen appoints Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak as country's new Prime Minister

In a surprise move, Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, Yemen's foreign minister, has been appointed as the country's new Prime Minister, according to Al Jazeera

6 Kurdish fighters killed in drone attack on Syrian base housing US troops

The umbrella group has launched dozens of drone attacks on U.S. military bases and troops in Iraq and Syria, and has called for the withdrawal of American soldiers from both countries

Blinken heads to Middle East to hold negotiations on hostages, Gaza aid

Blinken will travel to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Israel, and the West Bank from February 4-8. It is his fifth trip to the region since the Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7

US warns of further retaliation if Iran-backed militias continue attacks

After a weekend of retaliatory strikes, the United States on Sunday warned Iran and the militias it arms and funds that it will conduct more attacks if American forces in the Mideast continue to be targeted, but that it does not want an open-ended military campaign across the region. We are prepared to deal with anything that any group or any country tries to come at us with, said Jake Sullivan, President Joe Biden's national security adviser. Sullivan said Iran should expect a swift and forceful response if it and not one of its proxies chose to respond directly against the US. Sullivan delivered the warnings during a series of interviews with TV news shows after the US and Britain on Saturday struck 36 Houthi targets in Yemen. The Iran-backed militants have fired on American and international interests repeatedly in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. An air assault Friday in Iraq and Syria targeted other Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation f

Highlights of the day: Ladakh shuts down as thousands march for statehood

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Netanyahu slams President Biden's condemnation of Israeli settlers

Biden also said that they undermine the security of Israel and have the potential to "lead to broader regional destabilisation across the Middle East, threatening United States personnel and interests

US retaliates for fatal drone attack, hits Iranian militias in Iraq, Syria

"Our response began today," Biden said in a statement. "It will continue at times and places of our choosing."

US may intensify attacks on Iranian-backed Houthis after Jordan attack

Following the drone attack on a base in Jordan, the US forces are now preparing to hit Iran-backed proxies across the Middle East with increased intensity, as reported by Voice of America (VOA)

Prez Biden issues order targeting violent Israeli settlers in West Bank

President Joe Biden has signed an executive order addressing the issue of violent Israeli settlers in the West Bank, a move aimed at restoring stability in the region, CNN reported

India-Middle East-Europe corridor game changer for us, says FM Sitharaman

The Union Minister also underscored the success of India's G20 presidency and said that during the tough times engulfed by the COVID-19 pandemic, India navigated its way and addressed global problems

16K sheep, cattle stuck on board export ship after Red Sea turn-back

The animals have been on the vessel since January 5 Government and industry officials say they are in good health but animal welfare advocates have branded their plight torture