Page 2 - Israel

Israel, Hamas inching closer to ceasefire deal, here's how it may look like

After months of deadlock, Israel and Hamas appear to be moving closer toward a ceasefire to end their 14-month war. Top officials from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have resumed their mediation efforts in recent weeks and reported greater willingness by the warring sides to wrap up a deal. In a key concession, Hamas officials say they are prepared to show more flexibility" on the timing of an Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, and Israel's defense minister, Israel Katz, said Monday that a deal is closer than ever. Officials on all sides have cautioned that key details must still be worked out. But there is a general sense of optimism that has been lacking for many months. The changing sentiment appears to be the result of several factors. Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hamas over the course of the war. The group is more isolated after Hezbollah's ceasefire with Israel, and Iran, a key backer of both militant groups, has suffered a number of setbacks, highlighted by the downfall o

Netanyahu, Trump have 'very warm' call on Israel's need to complete victory

Netanyahu said in the video message that he had a 'very friendly, very warm, and very important conversation'

Syrian rebel leader urges Israel to end airstrikes after Assad's overthrow

The head of the Syrian insurgent group that led the overthrow of Bashar Assad's government says they are not about to enter a conflict with Israel. But Ahmad al-Sharaa in his first public comments on Israel in the week since Assad's fall said "the pretexts that Israel uses have ended" for its airstrikes inside Syria in recent days. Al-Sharaa said the Israelis have crossed the rules of engagement in his interview with Syrian TV on Saturday. About 400 Israeli airstrikes in the past days have destroyed much of the Syrian army's assets. Al-Sharaa leads Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS. The excerpts released from his interview did not address contact with the United States, which on Saturday said had been in direct communication with HTS, which it designated a foreign terrorist organisation years ago. The HTS leader did say the new authorities in Damascus are in contact with Western embassies, and that authorities have a plan to start reconstruction and development in Syria. He did not give

India, Israel share same challenges on security, extremism: Israeli envoy

India and Israel share similarities in challenges related to security and extremism, an Israeli envoy said on Saturday while underscoring the need for continued collaboration between the two nations. Speaking at the plenary session at the World Hindu Economic Forum (WHEF) 2024, Kobbi Shoshani, the Consul General of Israel to Mumbai, expressed solidarity with the Hindu community in Bangladesh, condemning the violence and persecution they face. "What is happening there is unacceptable," Shoshani said and emphasised the urgent need to address the challenges faced by the Hindu community in the neighbouring country. He articulated a shared understanding of suffering, drawing on the historical experiences of the Jewish community who have lived in India without fear or persecution. "We understand what it is like for daughters and children to be murdered and butchered by criminals," he said, referring to the attacks by Hamas on Israel last year. "Israel and Bharat share similarities in th

Israel attacks hospital in northern Gaza, wounding 3 medical staff

Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director. Dr Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time. Abu Safiya said relentless drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded alarmingly close to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital's roof and blowing out doors and windows. Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes. We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff, Abu Safiya said in

Israeli forces to 'temporarily' remain in seized Syrian buffer zone

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cited border security concerns for the deployment following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime and subsequent HTS takeover

Israeli airstrikes disrupt Hamas plot to hijack humanitarian convoys

IDF stressed that no delivery trucks were struck and that the humanitarian corridor remains open for aid deliveries

Israeli strike in Gaza kills 25 people as US makes new push for ceasefire

An Israeli airstrike has hit the central Gaza Strip, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding dozens more, Palestinian medics said, just hours after President Joe Biden's national security adviser raised hopes about a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. Officials at two hospitals in the Gaza Strip, al-Awda Hospital in the north and al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, reported they received a combined total of 25 bodies from an Israeli strike on a multi-storey residential building in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp on Thursday. Palestinian medics also reported that over 40 people, most of them children, were receiving treatment at the two hospitals. The al-Aqsa Hospital said that the Israeli attack also damaged several nearby houses in Nuseirat. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the deadly strike. Israel is trying to eliminate Hamas, which led the attack on southern Israel in October 2023 that sparked the war in Gaza. The Israeli military says Hamas ..

Israeli airstrikes kill 28 in Gaza, including 7 children, say officials

Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 28 people in the Gaza Strip, including seven children and a woman, hours after the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. One of the strikes overnight and into Thursday flattened a house in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp, according to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the nearby city of Deir al-Balah, where the casualties were taken. Two other strikes killed 15 men who were part of local committees established to secure aid convoys. The committees were set up by displaced Palestinians in coordination with the Hamas-run Interior Ministry. On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly approved resolutions demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and expressing support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees that Israel has moved to ban. General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, although they reflect world opinion. The war in Gaza began when ..

Hamas finds itself with few options for the day after the Gaza war

Israel's recent ceasefire agreement in Lebanon has further damaged Hamas' prospects by curbing Hezbollah's direct support in Gaza and by extension that of Iran

US Judge orders CIA analyst accused of Israel-Iran leak held pending trial

A CIA analyst charged with leaking top secret details ahead of a planned Israeli attack on Iran earlier this year will remain jailed pending trial, a judge ordered Wednesday. The ruling by US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles overrules a magistrate who said last week that Asif Rahman, 34, of Vienna, Virginia, could be free on restrictions while he awaits trial on charges of disclosing national defence information. The fight over Rahman's detention revealed additional details about the government's investigation of the leak and the analyst who allegedly disclosed the classified documents in October on the Telegram messaging app. At Wednesday's detention hearing, prosecutor Troy Edwards said Rahman was motivated by ideology, though he did not discuss what that ideology might be. In fact, he said the conclusion that Rahman's motive was ideological was essentially process of elimination, noting that Rahman comes from a wealthy family and has access to a multimillion-dollar family

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 33 including children, say Palestinian medics

Israeli strikes pounded the Gaza Strip overnight and into Wednesday, with one attack ripping through a home where displaced people were sheltering in the isolated north. The strikes killed at least 33 people including children, Palestinian health officials said. The Israel-Hamas war has no end in sight, even after Israel reached a ceasefire with Lebanon's Hezbollah militants and attention shifted to the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad by insurgents. Both the current and incoming US administrations have said they hope to end the war in Gaza before the inauguration in January, but ceasefire talks have repeatedly stalled. The strike on the home killed 19 people in the northern town of Beit Lahiya near the border with Israel, according to nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, which received the bodies. Hospital records show that a family of eight was among those killed: four children, their parents and two grandparents. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hamas militant in the ...

Humanitarian aid to North Gaza mostly blocked for last 2 months, says UN

Humanitarian aid to North Gaza, where Israel launched a ground offensive on October 6, has largely been blocked for the past 66 days, the United Nations has said. That has left between 65,000 and 75,000 Palestinians without access to food, water, electricity or health care, according to the world body. In the north, Israel has continued its siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabaliya with Palestinians living there largely denied aid, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, said on Tuesday. Recently, it said, about 5,500 people were forcibly displaced from three schools in Beit Lahiya to Gaza City. Adding to the food crisis, only four UN-supported bakeries are currently operating throughout the Gaza Strip, all of them in Gaza City, OCHA said. Sigrid Kaag, the senior UN humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters after briefing the UN Security Council behind closed doors Tuesday afternoon that civilians trying to survive i

Have waited 8 yrs for this moment: Netanyahu testifies in corruption trial

The Prime Minister faces charges of fraud, accepting bribes, and breach of trust stemming from three separate police investigations

Netanyahu warns Syria against aiding Iran or arming Hezbollah, vows action

Netanyahu had further acknowledged that while the collapse presents great opportunities, it also poses significant dangers

Netanyahu takes to witness stand for first time in alleged corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday took the stand for the first time in his trial for alleged corruption, setting off what will be weeks of testimony. Netanyahu said hello to the judges. One judge told him he had the same privileges as other witnesses and could sit or stand as he chose. Netanyahu will answer during his appearances to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. He is accused of promoting advantageous regulation for media moguls in exchange for favourable coverage of himself and his family. He is also accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars' worth of cigars and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for assisting him with personal and business interests. He denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system that is out to topple his lengthy rule. The trial will be an inconvenient legal spectacle for the Israeli leader at a

Govt services halted in Syria as workers stay home after rebel takeover

Syria's prime minister said on Monday that most cabinet ministers were back at work after rebels overthrew President Bashar Assad, but some state workers failed to return to their jobs, and a United Nations official said the country's public sector had come to a complete and abrupt halt". Meanwhile, streams of refugees crossed back into Syria from neighbouring countries, hoping for a more peaceful future and looking for relatives who disappeared during Assad's brutal rule. There were already signs of the difficulties ahead for the rebel alliance now in control of much of the country. The alliance is led by a former senior al-Qaida militant who severed ties with the extremist group years ago and has promised representative government and religious tolerance. The rebel command said on Monday they would not tell women how to dress. It is strictly forbidden to interfere with women's dress or impose any request related to their clothing or appearance, including requests for modesty, the

Syria falls to Islamist rebels, Assad flees to Moscow: All that happened

Bashar-al Assad's autocratic regime fell on December 8, marking an end to a 13-year-old civil war. Here's all you need to know about the latest rebellion

Netanyahu to take witness stand for first time in his corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as the leader wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges. At home, Netanyahu is on trial for accusations of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, but his appearance on the witness stand will be a low point in his decades-long political career, standing in contrast to the image of a sophisticated, respected leader he has tried to cultivate. The trial will take up a chunk of Netanyahu's time at a crucial point for Israel. While he makes his case for weeks from the stand, he will still be tasked with managing the war in Gaza, maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and keeping tabs on threats from the wider Middle East, including Iran. It will be the fir

Israel shells northern Gaza hospital, disrupting service, say doctors

The health ministry of Hamas-run Gaza said a doctor was killed with his family in an Israeli airstrike near the Kamal Adwan Hospital on Saturday night