Page 16 - Palestine

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

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

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

S'pore to recognise Palestine in principle at appropriate time: Foreign min

Singapore is prepared in principle to recognise Palestine as a state and will make this move at an appropriate time, Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said in Parliament on Tuesday, emphasising that the country has advocated a negotiated two-state solution, consistent with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions to achieve lasting peace. In particular, there needs to be an effective Palestinian government that accepts Israel's right to exist and categorically rejects terrorism, Dr Balakrishnan said. Both sides have legitimate rights, and both peoples have a right to live in peace and dignity within secure borders, The Straits Times quoted the Singapore minister as saying. He was responding to questions from parliamentarians on Singapore's May 10 decision to vote for a United Nations resolution backing the admission of Palestine as a member of the world body, which it said was made after serious and careful consideration. Dr Balakrishnan urged both sides to seize the moment

Can Asaduddin Owaisi be disqualified from LS over 'Jai Palestine' slogan?

Asaduddin Owaisi, who secured his fifth term from the Hyderabad constituency, faces a potential disqualification for raising 'Jai Palestine' slogan while taking oath in the Lok Sabha

Owaisi says 'Jai Palestine' while taking oath, remarks expunged after row

Asaduddin Owaisi justified his slogans after he came out of the House and told reporters there was nothing wrong in him saying 'Jai Bheem, Jai Meem, Jai Telangana, Jai Palestine'

Israeli found dead after being shot in West Bank as deadly strikes hit Gaza

An Israeli was shot dead in a Palestinian town in the northern West Bank Saturday morning, Israel's army said, while deadly strikes rocked northern Gaza. The army said the Israeli man was pronounced dead after being shot in the town of Qalqilya, and that Israeli troops were currently operating in the area. Israeli forces shot dead two militants in the same West Bank town on Friday. Violence has flared in the the West Bank since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last October. Since then, at least 549 Palestinians in the territory have been killed by Israeli fire, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, which tracks the killings. Over the same period, Palestinians in the West Bank have killed at least nine Israelis, including five soldiers, according to UN data. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Civil Defence, an emergency group active in Gaza, said they pulled 19 bodies from a building hit by an Israeli strike in an eastern neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday. The group said its emerge

UK approval of arms exports to Israel plunged sharply at start of Gaza war

The United States and Germany increased arms sales to Israel after the start of the war with the Palestinian group Hamas in October last year

PM Netanyahu dissolves War Cabinet after key partner bolted from govt

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the influential War Cabinet that has overseen the fighting in Gaza, a government spokesperson said Monday, a move that comes days after a key member of the body bolted from the government over frustration with the Israeli leader's handling of the war. The move was widely expected following the departure earlier this month of Benny Gantz, a centrist former military chief. Gantz's absence from the government increases Netanyahu's dependence on his ultra-nationalist allies, who oppose a cease-fire. That could pose an additional challenge to the already fragile negotiations to end the eight-month war in Gaza. Government officials said Netanyahu would hold smaller forums for sensitive war issues, including with his Security Cabinet, which includes far-right governing partners who oppose cease-fire deals and have voiced support for reoccupying Gaza. The War Cabinet was formed in the early days of the war, when Gantz, then an opposition

Highlights of the day: Rahul Gandhi to keep Rae Bareli LS seat, vacate Wayanad seat, says Kharge

Latest news updates: Catch all the news updates from around the world here

Israeli Army announces 'tactical pause' to increase flow of aid into Gaza

The Israeli military on Sunday announced a tactical pause in its offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to allow the deliveries of increased quantities of humanitarian aid. The army said the pause would begin in the Rafah area at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT, 1 a.m. eastern) and remain in effect until 7 p.m. (1600 GMT, noon eastern). It said the pauses would take place every day until further notice. The pause is aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for incoming aid, and travel safely to the Salah a-Din highway, a main north-south road, to deliver supplies to other parts of Gaza, the military said. It said the pause was being coordinated with the U.N. and international aid agencies. The crossing has suffered from a bottleneck since Israeli ground troops moved into Rafah in early May. Israel's eight-month military offensive against the Hamas militant group has plunged Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, with the U.N. reporting

Israel to halt daytime fighting along route in southern Gaza for aid flow

Israel's military announced on Sunday that it would pause fighting during daytime hours along a route in southern Gaza to free up a backlog of humanitarian aid deliveries for desperate Palestinians enduring a humanitarian crisis sparked by the war, now in its ninth month. The tactical pause," which applies to about 12 kilometres of road in the Rafah area, falls far short of a complete cease-fire in the beleaguered territory that has been sought by the international community, including Israel's top ally, the United States. The limited halt in fighting could help address some of the overwhelming needs of Palestinians that have surged in recent weeks with Israel's incursion into Rafah. The army said the pause would begin at 8 am (0500 GMT) and last until 7 pm (1600 GMT). It said the pauses would be daily until further notice. The pause is aimed at allowing aid trucks to reach the nearby Israel-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing, the main entry point for aid, and travel safely to the Sa

Muslim pilgrims start Hajj against backdrop of destructive Israel-Hamas war

In sweltering temperatures, Muslim pilgrims in Mecca converged on a vast tent camp in the desert on Friday, officially opening the annual Hajj pilgrimage. Ahead of their trip, they circled the cube-shaped Kaaba in the Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site. More than 1.5 million pilgrims from around the world have already amassed in and around Mecca for the Hajj, and the number was still growing as more pilgrims from inside Saudi Arabia joined. Saudi authorities expected the number of pilgrims to exceed 2 million this year. This year's Hajj came against the backdrop of the raging war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants, which pushed the entire Middle East to the brink of a regional war between Israel and its allies on one side and Iran-backed militant groups on the other. Palestinians in the coastal enclave of Gaza were not able to travel to Mecca for Hajj this year because of the closure of the Rafah crossing in May when Israel extended its ground offensive to th

Report cites crimes by Israeli Army, Palestinian militants starting Oct 7

UN-backed human rights experts say in a report issued Wednesday that Israeli forces and Palestinian militants engaged in sexual and gender-based violence during the first months of the Israel-Hamas war. The independent experts, in a detailed chronicling of events that have mostly been reported in the media, said Israeli forces and Palestinian militants committed war crimes, while Israel was also said to have committed crimes against humanity. Israel, which has refused to cooperate with the body and accused it of bias, rejected the allegations. The report, which covered the time between the Oct 7 rampage and the end of last year, laid out a wide array of alleged rights violations and crimes by both sides during the conflict. It said Israeli forces had committed acts including forced starvation, murder or willful killing, collective punishment and intentional attacks on civilians, and that the military wings of Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups had performed deliberate killings

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

Violence against children in conflict reached extreme levels in 2023: UN

Violence against children caught in multiplying and escalating conflicts reached "extreme levels" in 2023, with an unprecedented number of killings and injuries in crises, from Israel and the Palestinian territories to Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, according to a new UN report. The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press, reported "a shocking 21 per cent increase in grave violations" against children under the age of 18 in an array of conflicts, also citing Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Syria. For the first time, the UN report put Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children's rights for the killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals. It also listed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants for the first time as well for killing, injuring and abducting children. Hamas' October 7 surprise attack in southern Israel and Israel's massive military retaliation in Gaza have led to a 155 per

Brics discusses trading in local currency, African Union, and Palestine

India welcomed Egypt, Iran, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Ethiopia who attended their first Brics meeting in Russia on Tuesday

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