Gaza Firing

Israeli strikes kill family of 8 in Gaza, destroy 100-yr-old mkt in Lebanon

An Israeli strike on the central Gaza Strip has killed a family of eight, Palestinian medical officials said Sunday, as Israeli forces battled Palestinian militants and pushed for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people from the territory's north. Israel is also waging an air and ground campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, and is expected to strike Iran in retaliation for a missile attack earlier this month, though it has not said how or when. The strike in Gaza late Saturday hit a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing parents and their six children, who ranged in age from 8 to 23, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in nearby Deir al-Balah, where the bodies were taken. It said another seven people were wounded, including two women and a child in critical condition. An Associated Press reporter counted the bodies and filmed funeral prayers held at the hospital. More than a year into the war with Hamas, Israel continues to strike what it says are militant targ

Strikes on Gaza kill 18, stabbing in Israel kills 2 as tensions escalate

Israeli strikes early Sunday killed 12 people in Gaza, including four who were sheltering in a tent camp for displaced people inside a hospital complex, while a stabbing attack carried out by a Palestinian killed two people in a Tel Aviv suburb. Tensions have soared following nearly 10 months of war in Gaza and the killing of two senior militants in separate strikes in Lebanon and Iran last week. Those killings brought threats of revenge from Iran and its allies and raised fears of an even more destructive regional war. A woman in her 70s and an 80-year-old man were killed in the stabbing attack, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service and a nearby hospital, and two other men were wounded. The police said the attack was carried out by a Palestinian militant, who was neutralised, and that a search was underway for other suspects. The rescuers said the wounded were found in three different locations, each about 500 metres apart, adding to concerns that more than one ...

Israel orders mass evacuation, signals new assault on southern Gaza city

The Israeli army ordered a mass evacuation of Palestinians from much of Khan Younis on Monday, a sign that troops are likely to launch a new ground assault in the Gaza Strip's second largest city. The order suggested Khan Younis will be the target in the latest of Israel's repeated raids into parts of Gaza it had previously invaded during the past mearly nine months, pursuing Hamas militants as they regroup. Much of Khan Younis was already destroyed in a long assault earlier this year, but large numbers of Palestinians have since moved back in to escape another Israeli offensive in Gaza's southern-most city, Rafah. The order came as Israel released the director of Gaza's main hospital after holding him for seven months without charge or trial over allegations the facility had been used as a Hamas command centre. He said he and other detainees were held under harsh conditions and tortured. The decision to release Mohammed Abu Selmia raised questions over Israel's claims surrounding .

Israel winding down Gaza operations, Lebanon war could be next: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the current phase of fighting against Hamas in Gaza is winding down, setting the stage for Israel to send more troops to its northern border to confront the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The comments threatened to further heighten the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah at a time when they appear to be moving closer to war. Netanyahu also signaled that there is no end in sight for the grinding war in Gaza. The Israeli leader said in a lengthy TV interview that while the army is close to completing its current ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, that would not mean the war against Hamas is over. But he said fewer troops would be needed in Gaza, freeing up forces to battle Hezbollah. We will have the possibility of transferring some of our forces north, and we will do that, he told Israel's Channel 14, a pro-Netanyahu TV channel, in an interview that was frequently interrupted by applause from the studi

Israeli strikes on tent camps near Rafah kill 25, injure 50, say officials

Israeli forces shelled tent camps for displaced Palestinians north of Rafah on Friday, killing at least 25 people and wounding another 50 according to Gaza's Heath Ministry and emergency workers, in the latest deadly attack in the tiny Palestinian territory where hundreds of thousands have fled fighting between Israel and Hamas. According to Ahmed Radwan, a spokesperson for the Civil Defense first responders in Rafah, witnesses told rescue workers about the shelling at two locations in a coastal area that has become filled with tents. The Health Ministry reported the number of people killed and wounded in the attacks. The locations of the attacks provided by Civil Defense were just outside an Israeli-designated safe zone. The Israeli military said they were looking into the strikes at the reported coordinates. Israel has previously bombed locations in the vicinity of the humanitarian zone in Muwasi, a rural area on the Mediterranean coast that has filled with sprawling tent camps in

Israeli Min Benny Gantz quits Netanyahu's cabinet over handling of Gaza war

Gantz's decision comes at a time when the war between Israel and Hamas is in its eighth month, and the situation in West Asia remains fragile

Activists should turn down heat: Australia PM after US consulate attack

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to turn the heat down after the US Consulate in Sydney was vandalised on Monday. CCTV footage showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a small sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney after 3 am, a police statement said. Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance, were also painted on the front of the building. Albanese urged people to have respectful political debate and discourse. People are traumatised by what is going on in the Middle East, particularly those with relatives in either Israel or in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Albanese told reporters. And I just say, again, reiterate my call to turn the heat down and measures such as painting the US consulate do nothing to advance the cause of those who have committed what is, of course, a crime to damage property, Albanes

Biden, Macron agree on global affairs, express different views on Gaza war

US President Biden, who is currently on an official state visit to Paris, held meetings with his France counterpart

Blinken calls top Israeli officials to discuss Gaza ceasefire deal

Blinken commended Israel for the proposal and emphasized that the onus is on Hamas to accept the deal

US military-built pier in Gaza breaks apart: Here's all you need to know

A string of security, logistical and weather problems has battered the plan to deliver desperately needed humanitarian aid to Gaza through a US military-built pier. Broken apart by strong winds and heavy seas just over a week after it became operational, the project faces criticism that it hasn't lived up to its initial billing or its USD 320 million price tag. US officials say, however, that the steel causeway connected to the beach in Gaza and the floating pier are being repaired and reassembled at a port in southern Israel, then will be reinstalled and working again next week. While early Pentagon estimates suggested the pier could deliver up to 150 truckloads of aid a day when in full operation, that has yet to happen. Bad weather has hampered progress getting aid into Gaza from the pier, while the Israeli offensive in the southern city of Rafah has made it difficult, if not impossible at times, to get aid into the region by land routes. Aid groups have had mixed reactions bot

Israeli-Turkish trade on life support as relations strained over Gaza war

Turkey this month halted all bilateral trade with Israel until the war ends

Govt should strongly condemn killing of ex-Army officer in Gaza: Gokhale

Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale on Wednesday wrote to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, urging that the government strongly condemn the killing of a former Indian Army officer in Gaza. Col Waibhav Anil Kale, 46, who took premature retirement from the Indian Army in 2022, had joined one of the UN agencies three weeks ago. He was killed in war-torn Rafah in Gaza on Monday morning, becoming the "first international casualty" for the world body since the Israel-Hamas conflict started last year. "It is shocking that a retired Indian Army colonel was killed by Israel in Gaza and the shameless Modi Govt hasn't uttered a single word," Gokhale said in a post on X, where he shared the letter written to the External Affairs Minister. Gokhale said the former Army officer was travelling in a clearly-marked UN vehicle when he was killed. "It is clear from reports that Col. Kale was killed when his convoy was attacked in a strike by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). There is ...

Protests escalate in US; students raise Palestinian flag at Harvard

Last week, 275 pro-Palestinian protesters were detained at multiple campuses, including the Indiana University at Bloomington, Northeastern University in Boston, and Arizona State University

Hamas proposes new ceasefire deal, demands six-week break from hostilities

The terror group's draft added that 30 Palestinian prisoners would be released for every Israeli civilian, a steep increase from the 3:1 ratio of the weeklong Nov truce

Will reopen border crossing with hard-hit northern Gaza, says Israel

Israel on Friday said it is taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced the plans, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that future US support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in. Still, despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide Israel crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's six-month war against Hamas. Israel faces growing international isolation after its forces killed seven aid workers helping deliver food in Gaza. The Palestinian death toll soared above 33,000 people on Thursday, with another 75,600 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but .

Six months into Gaza war, Israel's isolation grows with no end in sight

When Israel declared war against Hamas last October, it stood unified at home and enjoyed broad backing from around the world following an unprecedented attack by the Islamic militant group. Six months later, Israel finds itself in a far different place: bogged down in Gaza, divided domestically, isolated internationally and increasingly at odds with its closest ally. The risk of a broader regional war remains real. Despite Israel's fierce military onslaught, Hamas is still standing, if significantly weakened. The offensive has pushed Gaza into a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 80% of the population and leaving over 1 million people on the brink of starvation. Yet Israel hasn't presented a postwar vision acceptable to its partners, and cease-fire talks remain at a standstill. Here are six takeaways from the first six months of war. BATTLEFIELD STALEMATE Israel declared war in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 cross-border attack, in which the militant group killed 1,200 people,

Australia outraged by death of aid worker in Israeli airstrike, says PM

The strike killed citizens of Australia, Britain and Poland as well as Palestinians and a dual citizen of the US and Canada

Israeli troops withdraw from Gaza's main hospital after 2-week raid

Palestinian residents say the Israeli military has withdrawn from Gaza's main hospital after a two-week raid, leaving behind a vast swath of destruction. Hundreds of people returned to Shifa Hospital and the surrounding area after the withdrawal early Monday, where they found bodies inside and outside of the facility. The military has described the raid as one of the most successful operations of the nearly six-month war, saying it killed scores of Hamas and other militants, as well as seizing valuable intelligence. Mohammed Mahdi, who was among those who returned, described a scene of total destruction. He said several buildings had been burned down. He counted six bodies in the area, including two in the hospital courtyard. Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, said there were still patients, medical workers and displaced people sheltering inside the medical compound. He said several patients had been taken to the nearby Ahli Hospital. He said army bulldozers had plowed over a makeshi

Talks resume to bring Israeli delegation to US for discussion on Gaza war

Talks have restarted aimed at bringing top Israeli officials to Washington to discuss potential military operations in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned visit this week because he was angry about the US vote on a UN cease-fire resolution, two US officials said on Wednesday. No date has been finalised for strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi to come to Washington, the officials said. The officials were not authorised to speak publicly about the sensitive discussions and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. An Israeli official said the White House had reached out with the goal of setting a new meeting. The official was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu's office said the prime minister did not authorise the departure of the delegation to Washington. The prime minister cancelled the trip this week after the UN vote to demand a cease-fire in .

As military chiefs meet, Pentagon stresses on protecting civilians in Gaza

US defence leaders pressed their Israeli counterparts Tuesday to ensure that any military operation in the southern city of Rafah unfold in phases to protect civilians and secure the delivery of aid, a senior Pentagon official said. Israel's defence minister was receptive, the official said, but it's not clear what impact the meeting will have on Israeli plans for Gaza or on growing tensions between the two nations. US leaders have consistently warned against a ground invasion of Rafah and pressed for an alternative, more precise operation. The senior defence official described the 90-minute meeting at the Pentagon as very productive and "really quite meaty", but demurred when asked if Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to condition future US military aid to Israel on an improvement of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Austin said the US will continue to stand up for Israel's right to defend itself in accordance with the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law,