Page 23 - Palestine

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Google to help fund Israeli artificial intelligence firms, Palestinian biz

"In the current situation, quite a few startups in Israel are struggling to raise capital from investors and urgently need financial bridging in order to continue operating," Google said in statement

Netanyahu to Gaza hostage families: Hamas has not made a solid deal offer

"I am saying this as clearly as I can because there are so many incorrect statements which are certainly agonising for you," Netanyahu added

Death toll soars past 25K in Gaza with no end in sight to Israel-Hamas war

The Palestinian death toll in Gaza from over three months of war between Israel and the territory's Hamas rulers has soared past 25,000, the Gaza Health Ministry said on Sunday. At least 178 bodies were brought to Gaza's hospitals in 24 hours along with nearly 300 wounded people, according to Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qidra. The war began with Hamas' surprise attack into Israel on October 7, in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took around 250 hostage, including men, women and children. Israel responded with a three-week air campaign and then a ground invasion into northern Gaza that flattened entire neighbourhoods. Ground operations are now focused on the southern city of Khan Younis and built-up refugee camps in central Gaza dating back to the 1948 war surrounding Israel's creation.

Israel's Netanyahu rejects any Palestinian sovereignty in post-war Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes any form of Palestinian sovereignty in post-war Gaza, his office said Saturday, appearing to rebuff US President Joe Biden's suggestion that creative solutions could bridge wide gaps between the two leaders' views on Palestinian statehood. In a sign of the pressures Netanyahu's government faces at home and abroad over the war, a protest outside the prime minister's home grew as more people joined a group representing families of the more than 100 remaining hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups. The families are demanding the government take bold steps to free the hostages, fearing that Israel's military activity in Gaza further endangers their lives. Netanyahu is also under heat to appease members of his right-wing ruling coalition by intensifying the war against Hamas, which governs Gaza, and must contend with calls for restraint from the United States, its closest ally. A statement from the prime minister's office said

EAM holds detailed discussions with Palestinian counterpart in Uganda

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday met with Palestine's Foreign Minister Dr Riyad al-Maliki here and held a detailed and comprehensive discussion on the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip. Jaishankar is here in the Ugandan capital to attend the two-day Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit, which began on Friday. Good to meet with Palestinian FM Dr Riyad al-Maliki in Kampala this afternoon. ... Had a detailed and comprehensive discussion on the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Jaishankar posted on X along with a photo of the meeting. Exchanged views on its humanitarian and political dimensions. Reiterated India's support for a two-state solution ... Agreed to remain in touch, he further said. The meeting comes a day after Jaishankar, in his address at the NAM summit, reiterated India's support for a two-state solution. Right now, the conflict in Gaza is understandably uppermost in our minds. This humanitarian crisis requires a sustainable solution that gives immediate relief

Pro-Palestinian chants ring out again during AFC Asian Cup game vs UAE

Chants of free, free Palestine rang out again from the crowd during the Palestinian soccer team's game against United Arab Emirates at the Asian Cup on Thursday. Similar chants were made at the Palestinian team's game against Iran on Sunday. Just as for that game, a moment's silence was held before kickoff for the lives lost as a result of the "ongoing situation in Palestine". Loud chanting had already rung out around Al Janoub Stadium before the two teams lined up in the center to observe the silence, and it started again shortly after. Earlier, the Palestinian players applauded fans following the playing of the national anthem and then held a team huddle on the field. Chants could be heard again after the Group C game kicked off.

Will oppose Palestinian state in any postwar scenario: Netanyahu to US

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has informed the United States that he opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of any postwar scenario. The announcement on Thursday exposed the deep divisions that have emerged between the close allies three months into Israel's war against Gaza's Hamas rulers. The US has called on Israel to scale back its offensive and said that the establishment of a Palestinian state should be part of the day after. In a nationally broadcast news conference, Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the offensive until Israel realizes a decisive victory over Hamas. He also rejected the idea of Palestinian statehood. He said he had relayed his positions to the Americans. In any future arrangement...Israel needs security control all territory west of the Jordan, Netanyahu told a nationally broadcast news conference. This collides with the idea of sovereignty. What can you do? The prime minister needs to be capable of saying no to our .

Palestinians suffer as about 60K wounded overwhelm remaining doctors: UN

Palestinians are dying every day in Gaza's overwhelmed remaining hospitals which can't deal with the estimated 60,000 injured people and daily arrival of hundreds more hurt in Israeli's military offensive, a UN health emergency expert said on Wednesday, while a doctor with the International Rescue Committee called the situation in Gaza's hospitals the most extreme she had ever seen. The two health professionals, who recently left Gaza after weeks working in hospitals there, described overwhelmed doctors trying to save the lives of thousands of wounded people amid collapsing hospitals that have turned into impromptu refugee camps. The World Health Organisation's Sean Casey, who left Gaza recently after five weeks of trying to get more staff and supplies to the territory's 16 partially functioning hospitals, told a UN news conference that he saw "a really horrifying situation in the hospitals as the health system collapsed day by day. Al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza's leading hospital wi

At least $15 billion needed for Gaza housing, says Palestinian official

"We still didn't talk about infrastructure, we didn't talk about the hospitals that were damaged, the grids...," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos

30 Palestinians killed in strikes while fears grow the conflict could widen

More than 30 Palestinians, including young children, were killed in Israeli bombardments overnight into Saturday in the Gaza Strip, officials said, while a new US strike against Iran-backed rebels in Yemen heightened fears that the Israel-Hamas war could escalate into a regional conflict. Fears of a wider conflagration have been palpable since the start of the war, triggered by the deadly October 7 attack on southern Israel by Hamas and other Gaza militants. New fronts quickly opened, with Iran-backed groups Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Iran-backed militias in Iraq and Syria carrying out a range of attacks. From the start, the US increased its military presence in the region to deter an escalation. Following a Houthi campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea, the US and Britain launched multiple airstrikes against the rebels on Friday, and the US hit another site on Saturday. In another fallout from the war, the International Cou

US struggling to sway Israel on its treatment of Palestinians. Here's why

President Joe Biden's administration keeps pressing Israel to reengage with Palestinians as partners once fighting in Gaza is over and support their eventual independence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu keeps saying no. Even on actions to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians, the two allies are far apart. That cycle, frustrating to much of the world, seems unlikely to end, despite U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's fourth urgent diplomatic trip this week to the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war started. Though the United States, as Israel's closest ally and largest weapons supplier, has stronger means to apply pressure on Israel, it shows no willingness to use them. For both Netanyahu and Biden, popular opinion at home and deep personal conviction in the rightness of Israel's cause, and each man's battle for his own short-term political survival, are all combining to make it appear unlikely that Netanyahu will yield much on the U.S. demands regarding the ..

What is Genocide Convention, basis of South Africa's case against Israel

South Africa has contended that Israel violated the Genocide Convention as "it failed to prevent genocide and failed to prosecute direct and overt incitement to genocide" in its ongoing Gaza offensive

US State Secy Blinken meets Palestinian leader Abbas in occupied West Bank

The visit came a day after talks on Tuesday with Israeli PM Netanyahu and his war cabinet over Israel's war with Hamas, regional tensions and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Western allies seek rapid end to war in Gaza, Blinken holds talks

Israel kills Hezbollah commander in Beirut

Palestinians flee from Gaza's main hospital as fighting draws closer

Medics, patients and displaced people are fleeing from the main hospital in central Gaza as the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants draws closer, witnesses said on Monday. Losing the facility would be another major blow to a health system shattered by three months of war. Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups withdrew from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in recent days, saying it is too dangerous. That spread panic among people sheltering there, causing many to join the hundreds of thousands who have fled to the south of the besieged territory. Israel says it has largely wrapped up major operations in northern Gaza and is now focusing on the central region and the southern city of Khan Younis. Israeli officials have said the fighting will continue for many more months as the army seeks to dismantle Hamas and return scores of hostages taken during the militant group's October 7 attack that triggered the war. The offensive has already killed ove

US offers up to $10 million for information on five Hamas financiers

The first financier, Hamza, was involved in the transfer of almost $20 mn to Hamas

Israel focuses assault on southern Gaza amid concern over wider war

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel, to continue "diplomatic consultations", a U.S. official said

Strike kills 12 people in Southern Gaza area declared safe zone by Israel

An Israeli strike flattened a home on Thursday in an area of southern Gaza that the military had declared a safe zone as Israeli troops pressed their assault in the nearby city of Khan Younis. Palestinian hospital officials said the blast killed at least 12 people, almost all of them children. Israel's offensive has focused on Khan Younis, where the military said on Thursday it has uncovered tunnels used by Hamas and battled fighters from the militant group that attacked into southern Israel on October 7. Israel has vowed to continue its campaign in Gaza until Hamas is destroyed. Now an apparent Israeli strike that killed a top Hamas leader in Beirut has stirred fresh fears that the conflict could expand into other parts of the region. The killing of Sameh Arouri prompted warnings of retaliation from Hamas' ally, the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. But there was no immediate escalation in the daily exchanges of rocket fire and shells between Hezbollah and the Israeli military over the t

Int'l Court of Justice schedules public hearings on Gaza 'genocide'

The hearings will be held at the ICJ headquarters in The Hague on January 11 and 12, the court announced on social media