Page 26 - Palestine

EAM speaks to Palestinian PM, reiterates India's long-standing position

During the telephonic conversation, Mohammad Shtayyeh expressed deep concern on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank. The two leaders agreed to remain in touch

Desperation grows among Palestinians trapped with little aid in warzone

Desperation grew Thursday among Palestinians largely cut off from supplies of food and water as Israeli forces engaged in fierce urban battles with Hamas militants. Strikes in the southern Gaza town of Rafah sowed fear in one of the last places where civilians could seek refuge. United Nations officials say there are no safe places in Gaza nearly a week after Israel widened its offensive into the southern half of the territory. Heavy fighting in and around the city of Khan Younis has displaced tens of thousands of people and cut most of Gaza off from aid deliveries. More than 80% of the territory's population has already fled their homes. Two months into the war, the grinding offensive has triggered renewed international alarm. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used a rarely exercised power to warn the Security Council of an impending humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and urged members to demand a cease-fire. Gutteres explicitly cited Article 99 of the UN Charter, which allows th

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Will operate in maximum force: Israel warns as truce with Hamas reaches end

Invoking the end of the truce on December 1, Hagari emphasised that the terror group chose war by rejecting the release of hostages and breaking the agreement

Israel orders mass evacuations as it widens offensive across Gaza Strip

The Israeli military says it has expanded its ground operation against the Hamas militant group to every part of the Gaza Strip. The army resumed its offensive Friday after a weeklong cease-fire expired. After focusing its ground operation on the northern part of Gaza in recent weeks, the military began carrying out airstrikes in southern Gaza as well. The vast majority of Gaza's population has fled to the south in search of safety. But late Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said ground troops were also pushing into the south. The Israeli army is continuing and expanding the ground operation against the Hamas presence in every part of the Gaza Strip, he said.

Israeli offensive moves south Gaza as truce ends, 200 Palestinians killed

Israel pounded targets in the crowded southern half of the Gaza Strip on Saturday and ordered more neighbourhoods designated for attack to evacuate, driving up the death toll even as the United States and others urged it to do more to protect Gaza civilians. At least 200 Palestinians have been killed since the fighting resumed on Friday morning following a weeklong truce with the territory's ruling militant group Hamas, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. Separately, the ministry announced that the overall death toll in Gaza since the October 7 start of the Israel-Hamas war surpassed 15,200, a sharp jump from the previous count of more than 13,300. The ministry had stopped issuing daily updates of the overall toll on November 11, following war-related disruptions of connectivity and hospital operations. The ministry does not differentiate between civilians and combatants, but said on Saturday that 70 per cent of the dead were women and children. It said more than 40,000 people

Israel Prez seeks India's help in release of hostages held captive by Hamas

Israel on Friday said President Isaac Herzog sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help in promoting ways to secure the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas militants in Gaza. Israeli President Herzog held a meeting with Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the COP28 UN Climate Conference in Dubai. The (Indian) Prime Minister expressed to the President his strong condemnation of the massacre and acts of terrorism committed by Hamas, a communication from Herzog's spokesperson said. Herzog called upon all the world leaders to join hands in the humanitarian effort to return all the hostages home swiftly and safely. He appealed to the Prime Minister of India to do all he could to promote the issue, the communication added. The Ministry of External Affairs said the two leaders exchanged views on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in the region. "The Prime Minister expressed his condolences on the loss of lives in the October 7 terror attacks and welcomed the release of ...

Palestinians say Israel is warning them to leave areas in southern Gaza

Residents say Israel has dropped leaflets over parts of southern Gaza, urging people to leave homes east of the town of Khan Younis. The leaflets also warned that Khan Younis was now a dangerous battle zone. The leaflets signaled that Israel was preparing to widen its offensive, which has so far focused largely on the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Hundreds of thousands of people fled northern Gaza earlier in the war, with many taking shelter in Khan Younis and other cities in the south.

Israeli fighter jets hit Hamas targets in Gaza Strip as war resumes

Israeli fighter jets hit Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday shortly after a weeklong truce expired, the military said, as the war resumed in full force. Airstrikes hit southern Gaza, including the community of Abassan east of the town of Khan Younis, the Interior Ministry in the Hamas-run territory said. Another strike hit a home northwest of Gaza City. Live footage from the Gaza Strip showed black smoke billowing from the territory. The Israeli military's announcement of the strikes came only 30 minutes after the cease-fire expired at 7 a.m. (0500 GMT) Friday. Earlier Friday, Israel accused Hamas of having violated the terms of the cease-fire, including by firing rockets toward Israel from Gaza. The halt in fighting began Nov. 24. It initially lasted for four days, and then was extended for several days with the help of Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt. During the week-long truce, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in

Gaza truce expires without word of extension, fresh clashes possible

A temporary truce in the Israel-Hamas war expired Friday morning, without immediate word from mediator Qatar on an extension, raising the possibility of renewed fighting. The truce expired at 7 a.m (0500 GMT) Friday. The halt in fighting began a week ago, on Nov. 24. It initially lasted for four days, and then was extended for several days with the help of Qatar and fellow mediator Egypt. During the week-long truce, Hamas and other militants in Gaza released more than 100 hostages, most of them Israelis, in return for 240 Palestinians freed from prisons in Israel. Virtually all of those freed were women and children. Reaching agreements on swaps appears to be growing harder as most women and children held in Gaza have already been released.

More Israeli hostages freed by Hamas as truce in Gaza lasts another day

Hamas began freeing Israeli hostages Thursday in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners under a last-minute deal to extend their cease-fire in Gaza by another day. But any further renewal of the truce, now in its seventh day, could prove more daunting since Hamas is expected to set a higher price for many of the remaining hostages. Hamas freed two Israeli women Thursday afternoon, and in the evening six more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza and were being brought to Israel, the Israeli military said. International pressure has mounted for the truce to continue as long as possible after weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground campaign following Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and more than three-quarters of the population of 2.3 million have been uprooted, leading to a humanitarian crisis. Israel has vowed to resume the fighting with the goal of dismantling Hamas onc

Israel-Hamas fail to agree for next hostage swap, truce set to expire

Doron Spielman, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said in a briefing on social media that no agreement had been reached regarding the next hostages to be released

Zero-tolerance approach to terrorism: Kamboj reaffirms ties with Palestine

Kamboj further condemned the deaths of civilians and emphasised that that is clearly unacceptable

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Avoid further Palestinian civilians' displacement in Gaza: US tells Israel

The Biden administration has told Israel that it must work to avoid significant further displacement of Palestinian civilians in southern Gaza if it renews its ground campaign aimed at eradicating the Hamas militant group, senior U.S. officials said. The administration, seeking to avoid more large-scale civilian casualties or mass displacement like that seen before the current temporary pause in the fighting, underscored to the Israelis that they must operate with far greater precision in southern Gaza than they did in the north, the officials said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House. Amid mounting international and domestic pressure about the rising Palestinian death toll, the White House has begun to put greater pressure on Israel that the manner of the coming campaign must be carefully thought through, according to one of the officials. The Israelis have been receptive when administration officials have raised these concerns, the

Evaluating list of hostages to be released today, says Israel govt

As per the news report, Hamas has expressed willingness to extend the truce and the two sides are reportedly holding negotiations on such an extension

Vishwaguru in search of disciples

In trying to please everyone, India is seen as neither fish nor fowl. India must rethink whether it can claim leadership of Global South by supporting a perspective not very different from the West

Israeli forces kill at least 8 Palestinians in West Bank: Health officials

Israeli forces operating in the occupied West Bank killed at least eight Palestinians in a 24-hour period, Palestinian health officials said on Sunday, as a fragile pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip entered its third day. Violence in the West Bank has surged in the weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, setting off a devastating war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have killed dozens of Palestinians and arrested hundreds in the West Bank. Jewish West Bank settlers have also stepped up attacks. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that five Palestinians were killed in the militant stronghold Jenin, while three others were killed in separate areas of the West Bank since Saturday morning. One of those killed, in al-Bireh in the central West Bank, was a teenager, the ministry said. The Israeli military said forces entered the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli father and son at a West Bank car wash earlier in t

42 jailed Palestinians, 14 hostages to be freed in Israel-Hamas second swap

Hamas will release 14 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel freeing 42 Palestinian prisoners Saturday as part of an ongoing swap during a four-day cease-fire, according to a senior Egyptian official. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to talk about details of the ongoing negotiations, said that mediators Egypt and Qatar have given Israel a list of those hostages to be released provided by Hamas. A second official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the details. The upcoming swap on day two of the cease-fire follows Hamas' release Friday of 24 of the approximately 240 hostages it took during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war. In exchange Israel freed 39 Palestinians from prison. Those freed from captivity in Gaza were 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals and a citizen of the Philippines. It was not immediately clear if any non-Israeli captives may also be released Saturday.