Category Archives: Hamas

Ex-Shin Bet head says Israel should negotiate with jailed intifada leader

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Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state, Ami Ayalon says in Guardian interview

A former leader of the Shin Bet domestic security force has said Israel will not have security until Palestinians have their own state, and Israeli authorities should release Marwan Barghouti, jailed leader of the second intifada, to direct negotiations to create one.

Ami Ayalon, a retired admiral who also commanded Israel’s navy and was wounded in battle and decorated for his service, also said destroying Hamas was not a realistic military goal, and the current operation in Gaza risked entrenching support for the group.

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Middle East crisis live: Protesters in Washington call on Biden administration for a Gaza ceasefire

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Thousands of demonstrators gather at Freedom Plaza for the march on Washington for Gaza

US strikes in Yemen, including the latest one on a military base in Sana’a, had no significant impact on Houthis’ capabilities to continue preventing Israel-affiliated vessels from passing through the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, Yemen’s Houthis’ spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam told Reuters.

Houthi Ansarullah official Nasruldeen Amer speaking to Al Jazeera, said that there were no injuries in the latest US strike in Yemen and vowed a “strong and effective response”. “There were no injuries, no material nor human losses,” he said.

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Israel accuses South Africa of ‘profound distortion’ at ICJ genocide hearing

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Israeli legal team calls South African accusation of genocidal acts in Gaza ‘a partial and deeply flawed picture’

Israel has accused South Africa of presenting a “profoundly distorted” view of hostilities, “barely distinguishable” from that of Hamas, as it presented its defence at the international court of justice in The Hague against accusations of genocide.

A day after South Africa argued that it had committed genocidal acts in Gaza with intent from “the highest levels of state”, Israel said on Friday that was a “partial and deeply flawed picture”.

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Middle East crisis live: US and UK airstrikes in Yemen will not go without ‘punishment or retaliation’, say Houthis

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Group’s military spokesperson says they will continue to block passage of ships in Red Sea

Lebanon’s powerful armed group Hezbollah has also reacted on Friday to the airstrikes and condemned them.

Reuters says that the group has released a statement saying:

The American aggression confirms once again that the US is a full partner in the tragedies and massacres committed by the Zionist enemy in Gaza and the region

We strongly condemn the military attacks carried out this morning by the United States and the United Kingdom on several cities in Yemen ….

We consider it a clear violation of Yemen’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a breach of international laws, regulations, and rights.

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Ten countries involved in air strikes on Yemen’s Houthis – as it happened

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) authority has posted to social media that it has received a report of a vessel being boarded off the coast of Oman.

While the exact circumstances remain unclear, UKMTO reports “hearing unknown voices over the phone along with the masters voice” and says it is “unable to make further contact with vessel at this time”.

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Israel shows ‘chilling’ intent to commit genocide in Gaza, South Africa tells UN court

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Case opens in The Hague with judges shown pictures and video as evidence of alleged genocide

Israel has shown “chilling” and “incontrovertible” intent to commit genocide in Gaza, with full knowledge of how many civilians it is killing, the UN international court of justice in The Hague has heard, at the opening of a case Israel has described as baseless.

South Africa, which has brought the case, alleged “grave violence and genocidal acts” by Israel on the first morning of the two-day hearing, amid a febrile atmosphere outside the court in The Hague. It called on the judges to order an immediate ceasefire.

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Israeli prime minister says “no intention of permanently occupying Gaza” – as it happened

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The Times of Israel reports that Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet will meet at 7pm tonight (5pm GMT) to discuss Israeli plans for the Gaza Strip when the war has finished.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that at least five Palestinians were injured and one detained in an Israeli security raid on Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It cites the Palestine Red Crescent Society saying a child and an elderly woman were among the injured.

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Antony Blinken tells Israel: Palestinian rights are key to peace

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US secretary of state rejects calls for immediate ceasefire but urges ally to make ‘hard decisions’ as fighting continues

Anthony Blinken has reaffirmed the United States’ “unique bond” with Israel, and rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but told his hosts in Tel Aviv that other regional powers have made clear that a pathway to the realisation of Palestinian political rights is essential for peace in the region.

Hinting at having held difficult talks with Israeli officials on Tuesday, the US secretary of state said the exceptional friendship between the two countries demanded that the US be “as forthright as possible when the choices matter most” and called for Israel to make “hard decisions”.

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Médecins Sans Frontières says strike on Gaza shelter killed staffer’s daughter, 5 – as it happened

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Here is a photograph issued of the meeting between Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv.

During the public portion of the meeting Herzog said a lawsuit filed in the international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in its Gaza offensive was “atrocious and preposterous”.

Actually our enemies, Hamas, in their charter, call for the destruction of our nation, the state of Israel – the only nation state of the Jewish people.

We will be there at the international court of justice and will present proudly our case of using self-defence under our most inherent right under international humanitarian law.

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Antony Blinken arrives in Israel amid fresh US push to stop war spreading

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US secretary of state poised for meetings with leaders who have so far proved resistant to pressure from Washington

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has landed in Israel for potentially difficult meetings with Israeli leaders and officials who have repeatedly proved resistant to pressure from Washington over their conduct of the war against Hamas.

Blinken flew late on Monday night from the Saudi oasis town of AlUla where he held talks with the crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, on a Middle East tour aimed at reaching a consensus on Gaza’s future.

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Three Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in West Bank, says health ministry

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The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had been compelled to cancel a mission to bring medical supplies to northern Gaza on Sunday after failing to receive security guarantees, Reuters reports.

It was the fourth time WHO had had to call off a planned mission to bring urgently needed medical supplies to Al-Awda Hospital and the central drug store in northern Gaza since 26 December it said.

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Two journalists have been killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Gaza – as it happened

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At least 113 Palestinians have been killed and 250 others injured over the past 24 hours in Israeli strikes on Gaza, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Sunday, Reuters reports.

Sunday’s tally brings the death toll in Gaza to 22,835 Palestinians killed and 58,416 injured since 7 October, the statement added.

Israeli bombardment [claimed] civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory’s displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported.

Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis’ European hospital, among them Mohamed Awad, who wept over the body of a 12-year-old boy and listed other family members killed.

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Blinken puts pressure on Middle East countries to contain Gaza conflict

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The US secretary of state was speaking in Turkey, on trip that will take him to Jordan, Egypt and Israel

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has urged Middle East countries to use their influence over regional actors to ensure the Gaza conflict is contained and prevent “an endless cycle of violence,” as he continued his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions.

Blinken was speaking on Saturday, after Lebanon’s Iranian-backed Hezbollah group said it had fired rockets at Israel, who said it had struck a “terrorist cell” in retaliation. Hezbollah called the strikes a “preliminary response” to the killing of a senior Hamas leader in Beirut last week in an attack widely attributed to Israel

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Creation of Palestinian state is only way to peace, EU foreign policy chief says – as it happened

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Josep Borrell wants European-Arab initiative to revive a peace process, with the ultimate aim being a two-state solution

The World Health Organization and the United Nations have made a new delivery of medical supplies to southern Gaza, the WHO director-general has said.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the shipment included eight refrigerators, eight solar panels, and clean delivery kits to supports 66 births as well as medicines and supplies to enable surgeries. He added that it would support 142,000 people requiring care.

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US and EU launch twin diplomatic mission to calm tensions in Middle East

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Escalation of violence comes as US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and Europe’s Josep Borrell begin tours of the region

• Middle East crisis – live updates

The most senior diplomats from the US and the EU launched a dual diplomatic offensive in the Middle East on Saturday aimed at calming tensions that threaten chaos and wider conflict across the region.

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, began a five-day tour of the region with meetings in Turkey and the EU’s most senior diplomat Josep Borrell, visited the Lebanese capital Beirut.

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Israel tries to appease US with proposals for Gaza as Blinken heads to Middle East

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Washington wants concessions from the Netanyahu administration, as critics say plans lack detail or commitment

Israeli officials are scrambling to head off mounting frustration in Washington in the run-up to a potentially difficult meeting between the top US diplomat and Benjamin Netanyahu by offering a series of policy proposals on Gaza that critics say lack detail or commitment.

The US has offered staunch support to Israel since the outbreak of its war with Hamas three months ago but is anxious to secure some concessions from Netanyahu to lower regional tensions and help avert a wider conflict in the Middle East.

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Israel could keep security control of Gaza after Hamas defeat, says defence minister

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Yoav Gallant’s proposal suggests Palestinians would run day to day administration of territory

The Israeli defence minister has suggested that Israel would keep security control of Gaza after Hamas has been defeated with an undefined, Israeli-guided Palestinian body running day to day administration and the US, European Union and regional partners taking responsibility for the reconstruction of the territory.

Yoav Gallant revealed the plan to media on Thursday before a visit by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, and after growing pressure from the US for Israel to make proposals for postwar scenarios.

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Unauthorised Jewish settlements surge in occupied West Bank, says watchdog – as it happened

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The German government is monitoring the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, as the country’s top diplomat prepares to travel to the Middle East for talks.

The spokesperson said:

The risk of escalation is unfortunately very real.

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US strike kills Iran-backed militia leader in Baghdad as regional tensions rise

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Two killed and five wounded, militia officials say, amid fears war in Gaza could spill into surrounding countries

The US military has carried out an airstrike in Baghdad against a high-ranking Iraqi militia commander who it blames for attacks against US forces in the country, killing him and another person, a US official told Reuters.

The US official said the strike hit a vehicle in the capital on Thursday. It targeted a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba, the official said, without naming the person.

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Netanyahu seeks ‘fundamental change’ on Lebanon border – as it happened

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The Times of Israel is carrying some quotes from a relative of one of the hostages seized from Israel by Hamas who later died during a failed resuce attempt by the Israeli military. Merav Barkai described the situation as “incredibly sad and difficult”.

Citing her appearance on 103 FM radio, it reports the aunt of Sahar Baruch said:

When we received the notification that he had been killed, it could have been a different notification. This was a rescue attempt; we were so close to being there. We were scared from the beginning that there would be a military attempt to rescue him and it would end this way. It’s incredibly sad and difficult. Hostages were freed, people left there alive, we felt like we were close, just a step away from that embrace.

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