Category Archives: Hamas

Hamas unlikely to take part in new round of Gaza ceasefire talks

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Islamist group says it won’t ‘negotiate just to negotiate’, raising fears of Iranian attacks on Israel if no deal is agreed

Hamas appears unlikely to participate in a new round of talks on a Gaza ceasefire deal on Thursday, further eroding hopes of an agreement that might stave off expected retaliatory strikes by Iran against Israel for the killing of a Hamas leader in Tehran last month.

Most observers already had low expectations of the ceasefire talks, with Israel hardening its position in recent weeks and fears that Hamas, now led by its most hardline faction, would offer few concessions.

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Iran rejects western plea not to launch retaliatory attack against Israel

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Tehran blames the country for killing of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iranian capital

Iran has rejected western calls not to retaliate against Israel for the killing in Tehran of Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, late last month.

“Such demands lack political logic, are entirely contrary to the principles and rules of international law, and represent an excessive request,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanani, said.

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Hamas says one Israeli hostage killed and two more injured in Gaza

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Shootings take place in ‘two separate incidents’, according to armed wing of group, which did not identify victims

The armed wing of the Palestinian group Hamas has said its militants shot and killed an Israeli hostage and wounded two others, both women, “in two separate incidents” in Gaza.

Palestinian militants seized 251 hostages during their 7 October attack on Israel that triggered the ongoing war, 111 of whom are still being held in Gaza, although the Israeli military says 39 are dead.

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Israel prepares for likely retaliatory attack by Iran as tensions mount

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US says it has prepared for significant attacks by Iran or proxies as Tehran stresses right to respond to assassinations

Iran has insisted on its right to an “appropriate and deterrent response” against Israel as the White House said it had prepared for what could be significant attacks by Iran or its proxies as soon as this week.

The comments come as the US announced it had ordered the deployment of the USS Georgia, a nuclear-powered guided-missile submarine, to the Middle East, amid mounting concern over the determination by Iran and its proxies to retaliate for Israel’s assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran. Iran’s acting foreign minister, Ali Bagheri Kani, made the comments to his Chinese counterpart on Monday, according to state media.

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Middle East crisis: US accelerates military deployment to region amid reports Iran may attack within days – as it happened

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US defence secretary Lloyd Austin orders USS Abraham Lincoln strike group to quicken transit to Middle East and deploys guided missile submarine, says Pentagon

A hospital in southern Gaza has received the bodies of 13 people, including a child, who were killed in Israeli strikes on Khan Younis, the Associated Press reports.

The strikes came as Israel has ordered mass evacuations from Gaza’s second-largest city in recent days, claiming Palestinian militants are firing rockets from the area. Khan Younis suffered heavy destruction earlier this year during a major Israeli air and ground offensive.

An AP journalist counted the bodies at the nearby Nasser hospital and saw funeral prayers being held Monday morning.

The dead include a medic who was killed along with two others in a strike on his house, according to the hospital records.

This footage from Gaza City shows the moment an Israeli airstrike hit a house in the suburb of Sheikh Radwan on Sunday. One person was killed and several others were wounded, according to Palestinian medics. According to Reuters, the cameraman who filmed the video said the Israeli army had notified people of a possible strike in the area.

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US orders strike group to accelerate deployment to Middle East amid fears of Iran attack on Israel

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Secretary of defence also announces deployment of guided missile submarine, as Hamas appears to push back against resuming ceasefire negotiations

The US has ordered a strike group of fighter jets and navy warships to accelerate its deployment to the Middle East, as the region braces for possible attacks by Iran and its allies after the killing of senior members of Hamas and Hezbollah.

The US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, ordered the Abraham Lincoln strike group to accelerate its deployment to the region, while at the same time announcing the deployment of a guided missile submarine, after speaking with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.

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Thousands flee Khan Younis after Israel warns of new offensive

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Displaced residents uncertain where to flee to as IDF prepares to fight Hamas in city in southern Gaza Strip

Thousands of people have fled the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis after the Israeli military warned of a new operation to flush out Hamas militants that it says have regrouped there.

In al-Jala, a neighbourhood in the south of the city that the Israel Defense Forces had previously designated a humanitarian zone, residents on Sunday packed their belongings, uncertain where to seek refuge. Israel said rockets had been fired from the area.

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Israel-Gaza war: dozens reported dead after Israeli strike on Gaza school – as it happened

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The death toll from an Israeli air strike on a Gaza City school has risen to 80, Palestinian health authorities said.

The Israeli military acknowledged the strike on the Tabeen school on Saturday morning, claiming it hit a Hamas command centre within the school. Hamas denied having a base at the school.

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Israel strikes on Gaza school site kill at least 80, Palestinian officials say

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Compound where about 6,000 displaced people were sheltering hit as many prepared for dawn prayers

At least 80 people have been killed in Israeli missile strikes on a school compound in Gaza City, according to the territory’s civil defence service, the latest in a string of attacks on schools that the Israeli army says are targeting militants using them as bases.

The bombing of Tabeen school, where about 6,000 displaced people were sheltering, was hit when many people were preparing for dawn prayers on Saturday, and reportedly caused a fire. Video from the scene showed horrific loss of life, with body parts, rubble and destroyed furniture scattered across blood-soaked mattresses.

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Israel-Gaza war: thousands evacuate Khan Younis as Israeli tanks return to city – as it happened

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Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has said the bloc “joins Egypt, Qatar & the US in their call for concluding, without delay, the ceasefire & hostages release deal.”

“We reiterate our full support to their mediation to put an end to the unbearable cycle of suffering,” he said, adding that “the deal will also pave the way for regional de-escalation.”

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US, Qatar and Egypt call on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent ceasefire talks

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Joint statement says framework agreement is ‘on the table’ and there are no excuses ‘from any party for further delay’

The leaders of the US, Egypt and Qatar have called on Israel and Hamas to resume urgent negotiations to finalise a ceasefire and hostage release deal, saying there were no excuses “from any party for further delay”.

The three countries, which have been trying to mediate a deal, said in a joint statement the talks could take place in either Doha or Cairo on 15 August, adding that it was “time to bring immediate relief both to the longsuffering people of Gaza as well as the longsuffering hostages and their families”.

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Iran may rethink reprisals against Israel over killing of Hamas’s leader

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Other Islamic countries are not openly backing military response by Tehran and more targeted action appears likely

Iran may be rethinking the scale and format of its planned reprisal against Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but is not likely to be put off by the absence of explicit support from Muslim states for an Iranian military response, officials have suggested.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have reportedly concluded that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is determined to carry out an attack in the next few days in response to Israel’s killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, but the degree to which it will coordinate with Iran is unclear.

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Middle East crisis live: Israeli strikes kill at least 25 people in Gaza, Palestinian health workers say – as it happened

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Israeli airstrikes hit a cluster of houses in central Gaza’s Al-Bureij camp and nearby Al-Nuseirat camp

Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz today said Israel’s decision to revoke the status of Norwegian diplomats serving the occupied Palestinian territories, was due to Norway’s “anti-Israel conduct”.

Israel has revoked the accreditation of eight Norwegian diplomats working as representatives to the Palestinian Authority, drawing a sharp response from Norway’s foreign minister who called it “an extreme act”.

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Middle East crisis: US warns Israel and Iran that conflict must not escalate – as it happened

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Antony Blinken says US has been ‘engaged in intense diplomacy’ as the region braces for attacks from Iran and its allies

It has just gone 2pm in Jerusalem. If you’re just joining us, here are the day’s developments:

The United States has communicated to Iran and Israel that conflict in the Middle East must not escalate, secretary of state Antony Blinken said. The Middle East is bracing for a possible new wave of attacks by Iran and its allies after last week’s killing of senior members of militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military has issued new evacuation orders for an area in northern Gaza that was heavily bombed at the start of the war some 10 months ago. The IDF said it would respond to a Hamas rocket attack from the Beit Hanoun area the day before and urged residents to relocate to Gaza City, large areas of which have been destroyed.

More than 39,677 Palestinians have been killed and 91,645 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since Oct. 7, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.

Protesters have disrupted an Israeli supreme court hearing about a shadowy military facility where Israel has held Palestinian detainees throughout the war in Gaza. The protesters yelled “Shame!” as the attorney for a number of Israeli human rights groups argued that the Sde Teiman facility should be closed permanently over repeated allegations of detainee abuse. An Associated Press investigation into the facility, as well as others by rights groups, found detainees endured abysmal conditions there.

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Hamas names Yahya Sinwar, architect of 7 October attack, as new leader

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Announcement comes after former Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh killed in bombing attack last week

Hamas has named Yahya Sinwar as the new head of its political bureau, elevating the hardline militant to the group’s top post after the assassination in Tehran of its previous political leader.

Sinwar’s appointment was announced in a brief statement by Hamas on Tuesday that was aired on pro-Hamas Iranian state media channels.

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Putin reportedly calls for Iran to limit damage in any retaliation against Israel

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Leaders expect a military response over Hamas assassination but fears grow of escalation into regional war

Vladimir Putin has reportedly told Iran to avoid civilian casualties in any retaliatory attack on Israel for the assassination of the Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, an underlining of the constraints it faces as it frames its response.

It is a call for restraint that is likely to be echoed by many foreign ministers from the 57 countries inside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) at a meeting in Jeddah on Wednesday as tensions in the Middle East grow.

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Iran says it has duty to punish Israel over killing of Hamas leader in Tehran

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Crisis meeting of Arab states this week may set agenda for retaliation as countries urge Iran to show restraint

Iran has called in foreign ambassadors based in Tehran to warn of the country’s moral duty to punish Israel for what it sees as its “adventurism” and law-breaking in assassinating Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader, a week ago in the Iranian capital.

Iran has also secured an emergency meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Wednesday where it will try to press Arab states to back its right to take reprisal actions against Israel.

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Nine Unrwa staff members ‘may have been involved’ in 7 October attack

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UN fires employees from Palestinian refugee agency following internal investigation into their role in the Hamas-led attack on Israel

The UN has fired nine staff members from its agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, after an internal investigation found they may have been involved in the Hamas-led 7 October attack against Israel.

The UN secretary general’s office announced the move in a brief statement on Monday. It did not elaborate on the Unrwa staffers’ possible role in the attack. It said the nine included seven staffers who were fired previously over the claims.

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US and UK expected to be drawn in as Iran prepares retaliation against Israel

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Response from Tehran, which blames Israel for killing of Hamas leader, could risk wider regional conflict

As Israel braces for what appears to be a likely Iranian retaliation, it is almost certain western and regional powers will be drawn in. Overnight, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, briefed his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, discussing according to Israel’s readout “a series of scenarios” and corresponding “defensive and offensive capabilities” should Tehran attack.

Gallant held a similar discussion with the UK defence secretary, John Healey, on Friday, giving the new Labour minister “an operational situation assessment”, Israel said. A day later Britain indicated it was moving military assets into Cyprus to prepare for a possible evacuation of UK nationals from Lebanon. The need for heightened readiness in the Middle East will not be lost on the RAF and its Typhoon pilots stationed at the Akrotiri airbase, either.

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