Page 29 - Palestine

Average Gazan living on 2 pieces of bread a day, scarce water: UN official

The average Gazan is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the UN had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is Water, water, the Gaza director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday. Thomas White, who said he travelled the length and breadth of Gaza in the last few weeks, described the place as a "scene of death and destruction. No place is safe now, he said, and people fear for their lives, their future and their ability to feed their families. The Palestinian refugee agency, known as UNRWA, is supporting about 89 bakeries across Gaza, aiming to get bread to 1.7 million people, White told diplomats from the UN's 193 member nations in a video briefing from Gaza. But, he said, now people are beyond looking for bread. It's looking for water. UN deputy Mideast coordinator Lynn Hastings, who is also the humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said only one of three water supply lines from Israel is

Over 8,000 rockets fired, 250,000 Israelis evacuate from their homes: IDF

In a post shared by the IDF on X, it stressed, "Israel is still under fire", adding that over 300 rockets are fired at Israel daily

9,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war: Gaza Health Ministry

The Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza said on Thursday that more than 9,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out more than three weeks ago. Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, a ministry spokesperson, said 9,061 people have been killed in Gaza, including 3,760 who are under 18. More than 1,400 people have been killed on the Israeli side, the vast majority civilians killed by Hamas in its bloody October 7 incursion into Israel. The Health Ministry is part of the Hamas-run government but includes doctors and veteran civil servants who are not affiliated with the group. Its tolls from previous wars have held up to UN scrutiny, independent investigations and even Israel's tallies. Israel's ground troops advanced toward Gaza City on Thursday, as the US and Arab countries intensified diplomatic efforts to ease the siege of the Hamas-ruled enclave and bring about at least a brief stop to the fighting to help civilians. President Joe Biden suggested a humanitarian pause the day before, as

IDF kills Hamas commander Ibrahim Biari, leader of Barbaric Oct 7 attack

He was also responsible for directing rocket fire at Israel and advancing numerous attacks against the IDF over the last two decades

Israel's step by step offensive on Hamas risks extending war in Gaza

Five-day ongoing ground campaign to destroy the group that runs the Gaza Strip involves armed forces moving gradually into the Palestinian territory while backed up by tanks and artillery

Cyprus prepares for potential migrant influx due to Israel-Hamas war

Cyprus is doubling the existing 1,153-person capacity of its main migrant reception camp as the island nation prepares for potentially a large influx of people if the crisis in neighbouring Israel and Gaza escalates, authorities said Monday. The Pournara reception camp on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia will see an increase in staffing to adequately provide needed care to new arrivals and expedite asylum application processing, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a statement. Authorities have evaluated different venues where migrants could be accommodated if arrivals exceed the capacity of the centre and would immediately ask the European Union to dispatch more personnel to help process asylum applications, the statement said. Nearly 200 migrants arrived in Cyprus aboard four separate boats on Saturday alone, likely setting sail from Lebanon which is 108 miles (174 km) from the country's eastern coastline - reported state broadcaster CyBC. Regular clashes

UN agency in Gaza says urgent ceasefire matter of life and death for people

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees told a UN emergency meeting Monday an immediate humanitarian ceasefire has become a matter of life and death for millions, accusing Israel of collective punishment of Palestinians and the forced displacement of civilians. Philippe Lazzarini warned that a further breakdown of civil order following the looting of the agency's warehouses by Palestinians searching for food and other aid will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the largest UN agency in Gaza to continue operating. Briefings to the Security Council by Lazzarini, the head of the UN children's agency UNICEF and a senior UN humanitarian official painted a dire picture of the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza 23 days after Hamas' surprise Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, and its ongoing retaliatory military action aimed at obliterating the militant group, which controls Gaza. According to the latest figures from Gaza's Ministry of Health, more than 8,300 ...

Israeli finance minister halts fund transfers to Palestinian Authority

Nearly three dozen trucks enter Gaza in the largest aid convoy since start of the war; Israel rescues an abducted soldier

Mideast leaders must consider two-state solution after the war ends: Biden

As the 3-week-old Israel-Hamas war enters what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says could be a long and difficult new stage, President Joe Biden is calling on Israeli and Arab leaders to think hard about their eventual postwar reality. It's one, he argues, where finally finding agreement on a long-sought two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict should be a priority. There's no going back to the status quo as it stood on October 6, Biden told reporters, referring to the day before Hamas militants attacked Israel and set off the latest war. The White House says Biden conveyed the same message directly to Netanyahu during a telephone call this past week. It also means that when this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next, and in our view it has to be a two-state solution, Biden said. The push for a two-state solution one in which Israel would co-exist with an independent Palestinian state has eluded US presidents and Middle East diplomats

Release of hostages requires Israel ceasefire, says Hamas official

The number of hostages kidnapped from Israel and held by Hamas in Gaza has also been updated to 229

Stop bombs, save lives: Palestine envoy tells UN amid war with Israel

"1,700 women were killed by Israel in the past two weeks," he said

Fearing strikes, Palestinians in north Gaza defy Israeli evacuation orders

Mahmoud Shalabi did not evacuate his home in northern Gaza despite the frightful Israeli warnings of a looming, far more brutal assault to come as it presses ahead with its war against the Hamas militant group. The Palestinian aid worker is among hundreds of thousands who have remained. Others who initially heeded the Israeli warnings to head south have returned to the territory's north, where Israel says it considers all those who stay possible accomplices of Hamas. Shalabi said leaving his home in Beit Lahia didn't make sense considering the relentless bombardment of southern Gaza, where Israel has repeatedly urged the more than 1 million northern residents like him to seek refuge. The overcrowded shelters and shortages of water and food in the south played a part in their decisions, said Shalabi and others who remained. Risk death at home, or elsewhere in Gaza, they said. Leaving would be reasonable only if Israel stopped targeting the south, said Shalabi, who works for Medical

Hamas hiding behind Palestinians: Biden at joint briefing with Albanese

Addressing a joint press briefing with Australian PM Anthony Albanese on Thursday, President' Biden condemned Hamas's attack on Israel and reaffirmed solidarity with its ally

Biden condemns retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians

President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also said he was redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution to end the decadeslong Israel-Palestinian conflict. Biden said the attacks by settlers amounted to "pouring gasoline" on the already burning fires in the Middle East since the Hamas attack. It has to stop, and it has to stop now, Biden said at the start of a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was being honored with a state visit to Washington. Settler violence against Palestinians has intensified since the Hamas attack, and Palestinians have been killed by settlers, according to Palestinian authorities. Rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing them to evacuate to other areas. The West Bank Protection Consortium, a coalition of

Man arrested in Germany over suspected plot to attack pro-Israel rally

A man with a previous conviction for membership in the Islamic State group has been arrested in Germany on suspicion that he may have agreed to attack a pro-Israel demonstration, prosecutors said on Wednesday. The 29-year-old, whose identity wasn't released in keeping with German privacy rules, was detained Tuesday at his apartment in the western city of Duisburg. Prosecutors in Duesseldorf said that a court on Wednesday ordered him kept in custody pending a possible indictment on suspicion of agreeing to commit murder and manslaughter. They said he is suspected of telling a chat partner in Syria in a sufficiently concrete manner" that he was prepared to commit an attack and that the possible target was a pro-Israel demonstration. Prosecutors said the Duesseldorf state court in 2017 gave the man a five-year sentence under juvenile law for membership in IS and other offenses, which he served.

What is Zionism?

Historically, Zionism wasn't always widely accepted among Jews. Originating in the 19th century, it met resistance from many within the Jewish community. Watch the video to know what Zionism is. >

Sent 38 tons of humanitarian goods to Palestinian people: India at UNSC

"The escalation of our utilities in the region has only exacerbated the dire humanitarian situation," he said, adding, "It has once again underscored the fragile nature of the ceasefire"

Aid agencies need unimpeded access to Gaza: UN Palestinian Refugee Agency

The UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees said 54 trucks have entered Gaza from Egypt over the past three days carrying food, water and medicine

Relentless bombardment of Gaza by Israeli forces deeply alarming: UN chief

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday asserted that no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law as he expressed deep alarm over the relentless bombardment of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by Israeli forces and appealed to all to pull back from the brink before the violence escalates even further. "The situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour. The war in Gaza is raging and risks spiralling throughout the region. Divisions are splintering societies. Tensions threaten to boil over, Guterres told a Security Council ministerial meeting on the Middle East. "On this UN Day, at this critical hour, I appeal to all to pull back from the brink before the violence claims even more lives and spreads even farther, he said. The meeting, held under the Brazilian President of the Council, was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel's Minister for Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen, Palestine's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad ...

Israeli warplanes strike targets as US seeks more time to free hostages

Here's what's happening in the latest Israel-Hamas war: US ADVISES ISRAEL THAT DELAY IN GROUND OFFENSIVE COULD ALLOW RELEASE OF MORE HOSTAGES Washington: The US has advised Israeli officials that a delay in a possible ground offensive in Gaza would allow more time for the US to work with its regional partners to release more hostages, according to a US official familiar with Biden administration's thinking on the matter. The official, who requested anonymity to discuss the private discussions, said it was unclear how much the argument will move the needle on Israeli thinking. The official noted that Qatar's help in mediating with Hamas was able to win the release of two captives, Judith and Natalie Raanan. The process that led to their release - just two of the more than the 222 people believed taken hostage in Israel in the Oct 7 attacks - started soon after the Hamas operation. The official said arranging for the release of the Raanans took longer to come together than folks real