Category Archives: Hamas

Netanyahu making a ‘mistake’ on Gaza, says Biden, as he urges Israel to push for ceasefire

Posted on by

US president gives some of his strongest criticism of Israeli PM yet, saying he needs to ‘empower’ Israel’s negotiators to call for a truce

US president Joe Biden has said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach on Gaza was a “mistake” and urged Israel to call for a ceasefire, in an interview that aired on Tuesday.

Biden’s comments were some of his strongest criticism yet of Netanyahu amid growing tensions over the civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Hamas and dire conditions inside Gaza.

Continue reading...

UK will not suspend arms exports to Israel, David Cameron says

Posted on by

Foreign secretary says Britain’s position on export licences is ‘unchanged’ after reviewing latest legal advice

David Cameron has confirmed the UK government will not suspend arms exports to Israel after the killing of seven aid workers in an airstrike on Gaza last week, as he insisted the UK would continue to act within international law.

The foreign secretary said that he had reviewed the most recent legal advice about the situation on the ground but this left the UK’s position on export licences “unchanged”.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu says date for Rafah invasion has been set with Israel buying 40,000 tents for evacuations

Posted on by

Israeli PM says Rafah invasion will go ahead as official says tents are part of evacuation plan

Recent tragedies in Gaza are not a reason to “walk away from Israel”, the former British home secretary, Suella Braverman, said.

Asked if the UK should still be selling arms to Israel, Braverman told LBC: “I don’t think the fact that these tragedies happen is a reason to walk away from Israel, and to stop selling arms to Israel, because of that broader battle that they are engaging with.”

Continue reading...

No progress made at Cairo ceasefire talks, says Hamas, as Israel pulls troops out of southern Gaza – as it happened

Posted on by

Israeli defence minister says withdrawal forms part of preparations for later attack on Rafah

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon early on Monday killed a field commander in the heavily-armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the United Nations warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence.

Hezbollah and the Israeli military have been exchanging fire across Lebanon’s southern frontier in parallel with the Gaza war, adding to fears of a wider regional conflict.

Continue reading...

Israel withdraws troops from southern Gaza for ‘tactical reasons’

Posted on by

Drawdown after four months of fighting in Khan Younis coincides with new ceasefire talks

Israel has pulled all of its ground troops out of southern Gaza for “tactical reasons”, the country’s army has said, raising questions about the future direction of the war as Hamas and Israeli delegations travel to Egypt for a new round of ceasefire talks.

Two brigades will stay in the northern half of the Gaza Strip and the new corridor that now bifurcates the Palestinian territory at Wadi Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday, in order to “preserve the IDF’s freedom of action and its ability to conduct precise intelligence based-operations”.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israel to join Cairo talks on Gaza truce and hostage release, says official – as it happened

Posted on by

Israel was previously undecided on whether to attend talks but will now take part in the latest round of negotiations

The Israeli military has withdrawn all ground troops from the southern Gaza Strip except for one brigade, a military spokesperson has said, according to Reuters.

An Israeli brigade is typically made up of a few thousand troops.

Continue reading...

Isolated at home and abroad, but Netanyahu isn’t about to go quietly

Posted on by

Israel PM’s woes continue to mount, but the country’s policy on Gaza is unlikely to change

For Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the last week has perhaps been the worst since the Hamas attack on 7 October, six months ago, that triggered the current war in Gaza.

Protests against the longtime Israeli leader by hostage families and the opposition returned with a vengeance across the country as he spent two nights in hospital for hernia surgery. Then his major political rival, Benny Gantz, undermined the unity of the wartime government by calling for early elections; Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition allies are already angry with him over a row regarding military conscription.

Continue reading...

David Cameron warns of Gaza famine as UK sends Royal Navy ship to boost aid effort

Posted on by

Move to join US-led maritime corridor follows international fury at last week’s killing of seven aid workers

The Royal Navy was ordered into action on Saturday to help supply desperately needed aid to Gaza, as the foreign secretary, David Cameron, warned that the Palestinian people trapped there were on the brink of famine.

With the UK and US governments under intense pressure to halt arms sales to Israel, Downing Street said on Saturday that ministers would instead boost support for a planned new maritime corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, to channel “life-saving aid” by sea to a population in urgent need of basic food supplies.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: UN humanitarian chief calls Gaza war ‘betrayal of humanity’ – as it happened

Posted on by

Martin Griffiths lamented ‘the unconscionable prospect of further escalation in Gaza, where no one is safe and there is nowhere safe to go’

Iran on Saturday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country’s enemies will “regret” the killings, reports AFP.

Tehran has vowed to avenge Monday’s airstrike on the Syrian capital it blamed on its arch-enemy Israel, which has not commented.

Continue reading...

Banning arms sales to Israel would be ‘insane’, says Boris Johnson

Posted on by

Former prime minister says a western arms embargo on Israel would ‘hand victory’ to Hamas

Boris Johnson has said banning arms sales to Israel would be “insane”.

The former prime minister also criticised the foreign secretary, David Cameron, for remaining silent on the debate over curtailing UK arms sales to Israel.

Guardian Newsroom: Crisis in the Middle East
On Tuesday 30 April, 7-8.15pm GMT, join Devika Bhat, Peter Beaumont, Emma Graham-Harrison and Ghaith Abdul-Ahad as they discuss the fast-developing crisis in the Middle East. Book tickets here or at theguardian.live

Continue reading...

‘The memories are too much’: Sderot residents return six months after Hamas attack

Posted on by

Families are being offered grants to go home but many have stayed away and others are already thinking of leaving again

Downtown Sderot, an impoverished Israeli town just a kilometre away from the north-eastern corner of the Gaza Strip, is still quiet six months after 7 October. There is no longer any trace of the police station where Hamas militants took hostages and engaged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a two-day battle before the Israelis decided to blow up the building. The site has been levelled and is now home to flags and a memorial.

Seventy people were killed and about 90% of the town’s 28,000 residents were evacuated, most of them put up in hotels up and down the country. A huge new mural saluting the town adorns a wall of a block of flats.

Continue reading...

McDonald’s takes over franchise that sparked global boycotts for giving meals to Israeli military

Posted on by

US fast-food chain is buying Israel franchise from Alonyal Ltd, taking back ownership of 225 restaurants in the country

McDonald’s is buying its 30-year-old Israel franchise from Alonyal Ltd, taking back ownership of 225 restaurants in the country that employ more than 5,000 people, the companies said on Thursday.

The US fast-food chain has been subject to boycotts and protests since Alonyal announced shortly after the 7 October attack by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas that it would be donating free meals to Israeli military.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: World Central Kitchen says only ‘systemic change’ can stop military failures as IDF sacks officers over aid worker deaths – as it happened

Posted on by

WCK says IDF deployed deadly force without regard to protocols in drone strikes in Gaza that killed seven aid workers. This live blog is closed

The United Nations Human Rights Council on Friday adopted a resolution calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip.

Twenty-eight countries voted in favour, 13 abstained and six voted against the resolution.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza and says Israel must protect civilians to keep US support

Posted on by

US president also said Israel must implement a series of specific steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers

Joe Biden has called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, telling Benjamin Netanyahu that future US support for Israel will depend on it taking concrete action to protect civilians and aid workers.

As the two leaders held their first phone call since Israeli airstrikes killed seven employees of the international food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), Biden issued the strongest US rebuke toward Israel since the start of the conflict.

Continue reading...

Charities halt Gaza aid after drone attack that killed seven workers

Posted on by

Humanitarian groups say they cannot operate safely after Israeli targeting of food charity convoy prompts international outcry

The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza seems likely to worsen after charities announced they are suspending operations in the territory in the aftermath of an Israeli drone attack which repeatedly targeted a clearly identified convoy of international aid workers, killing seven.

The strikes on a team from World Central Kitchen (WCK) led the charity – along with other aid organisations such as Anera, which helps refugees around the Middle East, and the US-based Project Hope, which focuses on healthcare – to announce that it would pause operations in Gaza to protect its staff.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: Netanyahu says deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza is ‘tragic case of our forces unintentionally hitting innocent people’

Posted on by

World Central Kitchen to pause operations immediately after deadly convoy strike by Israel; workers from UK, US, Australia, Poland and Palestine among dead

We’ve launched this video report on the Gaza strike, including footage of people being transported on stretchers as ambulances flash nearby.

Australia’s prime minister says the death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza is “completely unacceptable” and “beyond any reasonable circumstances”, saying the government will call in the Israeli ambassador and contact Israel’s government.

Continue reading...

IRGC commander among dead after Israeli strike on Iran consulate in Syria

Posted on by

Iran vows revenge after seven people killed, including several diplomats and Mohammad Reza Zahedi of Revolutionary Guards

Iran has vowed revenge after Israeli war planes destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing at least seven people, including a senior commander in the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds force.

Iran’s leaders in Tehran described the targeting of a diplomatic mission late on Monday as unprecedented and promised a harsh response.

Continue reading...

Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital after two-week raid

Posted on by

Palestinian organisations allege torture and ‘executions’ as video footage shows heavily damaged and charred buildings

Israeli forces announced their withdrawal from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza on Monday after a two-week raid, amid claims from Hamas that the Israel Defense Forces killed 400 people in the compound and allegations from the Palestinian Red Crescent of torture and “executions”.

According to the IDF, the facility – Gaza City’s main hospital before the war – was used to harbour Hamas fighters. The army described the operation as one of the most successful of the nearly six-month conflict and cited the killing of of 200 militants including senior operatives. The claim they were all militants could not be confirmed.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israel withdraws from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza as Hamas-run media office says hundreds of Palestinians killed – as it happened

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed. To read the latest news about the Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, head to our new live blog:

Here is a video of the destruction left in the wake of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City:

“During [the Israeli] siege inside al-Shifa hospital, we did not have the means to treat patients … We could not treat or bury them,” a nurse with the hospital told Al Jazeera.

Continue reading...

Fears grow that Gaza could become ‘Mogadishu on the Mediterranean’

Posted on by

Aid officials and people in territory describe erosion of civil order and gangs filling power vacuum after months of war

Gaza is facing deepening anarchy as the last remnants of civil order break down, leaving a vacuum increasingly filled by armed gangs, clans, powerful families and criminals, dozens of interviews with senior aid officials, experts and people in the territory reveal.

The interviewees described the continuing threat of famine and bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but also a brutal new world in which guns, knives and intimidation often determine who gets desperately needed humanitarian assistance.

Continue reading...