Page 3 - Israel

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

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 29 people at northern Gaza hospital

Palestinian officials say at least 29 people were killed, including four medical staff, when Israeli strikes pummelled the area around one of the last remaining hospitals in northern Gaza. The situation in and around the Kamal Adwan hospital is catastrophic, according to Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, the director of the hospital. Elsewhere in the region, Lebanon said it is closing all its land border crossings with Syria except for a main one that links Beirut with the Syrian capital, Damascus. Friday's decision came hours after an Israeli airstrike damaged a border crossing in northern Lebanon just days after it was reopened. Jordan also closed a border crossing with Syria because of the security situation on the Syrian side. Syrian insurgents have entered the central towns of Rastan and Talbiseh, just north of the central city of Homs, bringing them closer to Syria's third largest city. A day earlier, jihadi-led opposition fighters captured the central city of Hama, Syria's fourth ...

Tadiran Telecom to invest $10 mn annually to manufacture IP phones in India

Israel-based unified communications company Tadiran Telecom plans to invest at least USD 10 million (about Rs 80 crore) annually to manufacture IP telephones in India, a top company official has said. IP telephones support multiple communication functions, including conference calls through apps, and are generally used in business organisations. The company has partnered with DCM Shriram for manufacturing IP phones. Tadiran Telecom CEO Moshe Mitz, on the sidelines of an event to announce its manufacturing plan in India, said the company is likely to invest more every year in the second phase of production expansion, which will include Software development. "We plan to make 1,00,000 IP telephones in India every year. This is a conservative number. We have allocated USD 10 million for one year for our manufacturing project. Investment will increase based on the performance," Mitz said. Tadiran has been operating in India for the last 26 years through channel partners. Mitz said tha

US probes Spain's port denials of cargo ships carrying arms to Israel

The United States has opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain has been denying port entry to cargo vessels reportedly transporting US weapons to Israel. The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent body charged with monitoring and evaluating conditions that may affect shipping and US international trade, said it had opened the probe after receiving information that Spain had refused to allow at least three cargo vessels into its ports. The commission is concerned that this apparent policy of denying entry to certain vessels will create conditions unfavourable to shipping in the foreign trade, it said Thursday in a notice published in the Federal Register. If the investigation determines that Spain has interfered with such commerce, the commission could levy millions of dollars in fines, up to USD 2.3 million per voyage, it said. The notice said the commission had been informed on November 19 that Spain was denying port entry to ships, including those enrolled in the

Australian PM blames antisemitism for arson that damaged synagogue

The suspected anti-Semitic arson attack, which left one worshipper injured, has been widely condemned by Jewish organisations

Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed after long hiatus, says Hamas official

A Hamas official said Thursday that international mediators have resumed negotiating with the militant group and Israel over a ceasefire in Gaza, and that he was hopeful a deal to end the 14-month war was within reach. Ceasefire negotiations were halted last month when Qatar suspended talks with mediators from Egypt and the United States because of frustration over a lack of progress between Israel and Hamas. But there has been a reactivation of efforts in recent days to end the fighting, release hostages from Gaza and free Palestinian prisoners in Israel, according to Bassem Naim, an official in Hamas' political bureau who spoke with The Associated Press in Turkiye. Another official familiar with the talks confirmed the return of Qatari mediators. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the negotiations with the media. Since the talks broke down, there have been significant shifts in the global and regional landscape. Donald Trump w

Israel sees record-breaking $10.5 billion in startup acquisitions

This comes amid ongoing economic troubles in Europe and the US and as Israel faces an ongoing, multi- front war

India and Israel on right side of the US' equation: Minister Nir Barkat

There is a new world order; India and Israel on the 'right side' of USA's equation: Nir Barkat

Genocide committed against Palestinians in Gaza, says Amnesty International

Amnesty International accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip during its war with Hamas, saying it has sought to deliberately destroy Palestinians by mounting deadly attacks, demolishing vital infrastructure and preventing the delivery of food, medicine and other aid. The human rights group released a report Thursday in the Middle East that said such actions could not be justified by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, which ignited the war, or the presence of militants in civilian areas. Amnesty said the United States and other allies of Israel could be complicit in genocide, and called on them to halt arms shipments. Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call to the international community: this is genocide. It must stop now, Agns Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, said in the report. Israel, which was founded in the aftermath of the Holocaust, has adamantly rejected genocide allegations against it as an antisemitic blood libel. It i

Israeli airstrikes on tent camp in Southern Gaza kill at least 21 people

Israeli airstrikes tore through a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza on Wednesday, sparking fires and killing at least 21 people, according to the head of a nearby hospital, in the latest assault on a sprawling tent city that Israel designated a humanitarian safe zone but has repeatedly targeted. The Israeli military said it struck senior Hamas militants involved in terrorist activities in the area, without providing additional details, and said it took precautions to minimize harm to civilians. The strike on the Muwasi tent camp was one of several deadly assaults across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. An Israeli attack in central Gaza killed at least 10 more people, including four children, according to Palestinian medics. Israel's devastating war in Gaza, launched after Hamas' October 2023 attack, shows no signs of ending after nearly 14 months. Hamas is still holding dozens of Israeli hostages, and most of Gaza's population has been displaced and is reliant on ...

Israel seeks collab with India Inc, startups; aims to hire Indian workers

"We are looking at opportunities across all sectors and would like to import labour from India -both skilled and unskilled"

India votes on resolution calling for withdrawal of Israel from Palestine

India voted in favour of a UN General Assembly resolution that called for the withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, and reiterated the call for achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in West Asia. The draft resolution Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine' tabled by Senegal was overwhelmingly adopted in the 193-member General Assembly on Tuesday. India was among the 157 nations that voted in favour, while eight Member States - Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and the United States voted against it. Cameroon, Czechia, Ecuador, Georgia, Paraguay, Ukraine and Uruguay abstained. The resolution, adopted as orally revised, reiterated its call for the achievement, without delay, of a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East (West Asia) on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967, includi

Netanyahu thanks Donald Trump for warning Hamas to release hostages

Trump made it clear that those responsible for the hostage situation would face severe consequences

Israeli strikes kill shepherd in Lebanon; tensions threaten ceasefire

Israeli forces carried out several new drone and artillery strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday, including a deadly strike that the Health Ministry and state media said killed a shepherd, further shaking a tenuous ceasefire meant to end more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah. The shooting came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed keep striking with an iron fist against perceived Hezbollah violations of the truce. His defence minister warned that if the ceasefire collapses, Israel will target not just Hezbollah but the Lebanese state an expansion of Israel's campaign. Since it began last Wednesday, the US- and French-brokered 60-day ceasefire has been rattled by near daily Israeli strikes, although Israel has been vague about the purported Hezbollah violations that prompted them. On Monday, it was shaken by its biggest test yet. Hezbollah fired two projectiles toward an Israeli-held disputed border zone, its first volley since the ceasefire began, saying it was a warning

Hezbollah attack draws Israeli strikes, 11 killed, ceasefire limit tested

Israel unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people on Monday after the Lebanese militant group fired a volley of projectiles as a warning over what it said were Israeli truce violations. The projectiles were apparently the first time that Hezbollah took aim at Israeli forces after the 60-day ceasefire went into effect last Wednesday. The increasingly fragile truce aimed to end more than a year of war between Hezbollah and Israel part of a wider regional conflict sparked by the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. In the United States, President-elect Donald Trump demanded the immediate release of Israeli hostages held by the Palestinian militant Hamas group in Gaza, saying on social media that if they are not freed before he takes office in January there would be HELL TO PAY. It was not immediately clear whether Trump was threatening to directly involve the U.S. military in Israel's ...

'All hell to pay if hostages not released': Trump issues warning to Hamas

US President-elect Donald Trump said that despite global concern over the Israeli hostages, there has been no significant action taken

Govt invites Israeli startups for collaboration in quantum, space sector

Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh on Tuesday invited Israeli startups to collaborate with Indian firms on the National Quantum Mission. Singh made the offer to Israel's Industry and Economy Minister Nir Barkat who met him here. The two leaders discussed collaboration in startups in the space, quantum technology, agriculture and health sectors. Singh invited Israeli startups, known for their pioneering work in quantum computing, to partner with Indian institutions to co-develop critical quantum technologies. "India and Israel can supplement each other in this domain India with its large market, manpower, and opportunities, and Israel with its cutting-edge innovation," Singh said. India's National Quantum Mission aims to harness quantum technologies to bolster sectors like communication, cryptography, and computing, he said. Singh said Israeli startups and researchers could play a vital role in co-developing critical technologies, leveraging their experience for mutua

Hezbollah's firing at Mount Dov a serious violation of ceasefire: Netanyahu

The Israel Defense Forces said Hezbollah fired two missiles toward Mount Dov on Monday but the missiles fell in open areas, causing no casualties.

ICC member states start their annual meeting amid pushback and allegations

The International Criminal Court's member states open their annual meeting Monday while the court faces pushback over arrest warrants for Israeli officials, sexual harassment allegations against the court's chief prosecutor and a very empty docket. The Assembly of States Parties, which represents the ICC's 124 member countries, will convene its 23rd conference to elect committee members and approve the court's budget against a backdrop of unfavourable headlines. Last month, judges granted a request from the court's chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas' military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the nearly 14-month war in Gaza. It marks the first time that a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused by the global court of justice. The decision has been denounced by critics of the court and given only milquetoast approval by many of its ..