This blog is now closed.
Continue reading...Category Archives: Israel-Gaza war
Gaza ceasefire negotiations unlikely to restart for weeks, diplomats say
Second pause may rely upon Israel proving it has captured or killed some of Hamas’s senior operatives
Diplomats at the annual Doha Forum conference in Qatar have said they are not expecting any reopening of Gaza ceasefire talks for some weeks and say their resumption may turn on Israel being able to point to the killing or capture of some of Hamas’s key leaders as a sign that its military operation has achieved its purpose.
The US believes this can be achieved as early as Christmas, but different timeframes are circulating.
Continue reading...Israel rejects claims it is trying to force Palestinians out of Gaza
WHO chief says Gaza’s health system is ‘on its knees and collapsing’ amid intensifying ground offensive
Israel has rejected suggestions it is trying to force Palestinians out of Gaza as Arab leaders and aid officials warn its intensifying ground offensive could leave civilians with few other options.
Some of the heaviest close-quarters fighting in more than two months of conflict took place over the weekend, as the Israel Defense Forces tried to consolidate control of urban centres in northern Gaza and pursued Hamas leaders in the heart of the biggest city in the south, Khan Younis.
Continue reading...Biden under scrutiny after bypassing Congress to supply tank shells to Israel
Administration reportedly not carrying out continual assessments on whether war crimes being committed in Gaza
The Biden administration’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has come under intensified scrutiny after it revealed it had bypassed Congress to supply tank shells, and was reported not to be carrying out continual assessments of whether Israel was committing possible war crimes.
Israeli tanks were reported to have reached the centre of Khan Younis on Sunday, after battling through stiff resistance in the southern city which is overcrowded by civilians who have fled fighting in the north. Israeli airstrikes pounded the city blocks west of the frontline.
Continue reading...Qatar says ‘narrowing window’ for freeing more hostages held in Gaza – as it happened
This blog is now closed.
Mediation efforts are continuing to secure a new Gaza ceasefire and free more hostages held by Hamas despite the ongoing Israeli bombardment that is “narrowing the window” for a successful outcome, Qatar’s prime minister said Sunday.
“Our efforts as the state of Qatar along with our partners are continuing. We are not going to give up,” sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told the Doha Forum, adding that “the continuation of the bombardment is just narrowing this window for us”.
If Israel is above international law, sanctions should be put on it. Israel should not be allowed to continue violating international humanitarian law and international law.
Our main concern is not the day after. It is today. We want the stop of atrocities and genocide that is happening today.
Continue reading...Groundbreaking graphic novel on Gaza rushed back into print 20 years on
When Joe Sacco created Palestine no one knew what ‘comics journalism’ was. Now his pioneering book has eager new readers
An acclaimed nonfiction graphic novel about Gaza, which pioneered the medium of “comics journalism”, has been rushed back into print after surging demand since the fresh outbreak of the conflict two months ago.
Palestine, by Joe Sacco, was originally released in comic book form by the American publisher Fantagraphics 30 years ago, then published as a single volume by the company, and by Jonathan Cape in the UK in 2003.
Continue reading...UN chief vows to go on seeking ceasefire in Gaza despite US veto
António Guterres says UN has no clear route map to stop conflict and world institutions are ‘caught in a time warp’
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, has vowed he will not give up seeking a ceasefire in Gaza after the US wielded its veto to block the move at the security council on Friday, leaving the UN without a clear route map to stop the conflict lasting many months.
Speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Guterres did not directly criticise the US in his address but said the security council was “paralysed by geostrategic divisions”. He added world institutions “are weak and outdated, caught in a time warp reflecting a reality of 80 years ago”.
Continue reading...Sisi poised to win power again, but Egyptians’ minds are on Gaza
There’s no chance of a fair election on Sunday, but Egypt president’s weakness on Gaza is showing in a country racked by poverty, corruption and inflation
For Egyptians, the only signs that an election is imminent are the posters of President Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi’s face plastered on every available wall and billboard across the country.
The repetitive images of Sisi – always gazing into the distance with a stiff, forced smile – are so ubiquitous that people have turned to the only venue for free expression they have left and have begun making memes of them to share online. One picture that circulated features Jack and Rose from the film Titanic sitting on the deck of the ship surrounded by Sisi’s campaign posters. In another, people joke that a pregnant woman passed so many pictures of Sisi on her way to work that her newborn baby resembled the incumbent president.
Continue reading...Labour steps up criticism of ‘intolerable’ killings in Gaza
Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy slams Israeli ‘death and destruction’ and urges UK travel ban on violent settlers
• Read more: Labour will oppose expulsions of Palestinians and bar violent settlers from UK
The Labour party today delivers its strongest criticism of Israel over its attacks on Palestinians, describing the death and destruction in Gaza over the past two months as “intolerable” and attacking two far-right Israeli cabinet ministers for “totally unacceptable” support of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
In a sharp change of tone, David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, with the full backing of party leader Keir Starmer, attacks the Israeli authorities for “turning a blind eye” to violence by settlers in the West Bank, which has “forcibly displaced” more than 1,000 Palestinians from their homes since the attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October.
Continue reading...Biden bypasses Congress to sell tank shells to Israel amid further fighting in Khan Younis
Emergency declaration used to sell $106.5m worth of ammo for Israel’s tanks as reports of fierce fighting in southern Gaza city of Khan Younis emerge
The Biden administration has used an emergency authority to allow the sale of about 14,000 tank shells to Israel without congressional review, the Pentagon said on Saturday.
The state department on Friday used an Arms Export Control Act emergency declaration for the tank rounds worth $106.5m for immediate delivery to Israel, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Continue reading...Thousands call for Gaza ceasefire on central London march
Police say 13 protesters arrested during march from Bank Junction to Parliament Square
Thousands of pro-Palestine protesters gathered in Parliament Square, London, on Saturday to call for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The protesters marched from Bank Junction to Westminster, with many holding signs with the words “Free Palestine” and “End the siege”. Some protesters chanted: “One, two, three, four, occupation no more, five, six, seven, eight, Israel is a terrorist state.”
Continue reading...Israeli military says five of its soldiers killed in war – as it happened
This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here
Heavy fighting continued overnight in northern Gaza, both from the air and on the ground, the Israel Defense Forces said on Saturday.
According to the IDF, fighters from the battle team of the Kafir brigade fought and killed a group in the area of a school in the Shejaiya neighbourhood. IDF forces later found a number of Kalashnikov weapons, grenades and ammunition inside the classrooms.
Continue reading...‘The mood is subdued’: Hanukkah is marked by mourning for Jews across UK
For the Jewish community in York, as elsewhere, fears and distress over the war in Gaza haunt this year’s festival of light
On Thursday evening, the small progressive Jewish community in York will gather at Jewbury, the city’s medieval Jewish cemetery, to light memorial candles and say prayers for 150 people who died in a 12th-century pogrom at Clifford’s Tower.
The flames will then be used to light the eighth and final candle on menorahs, or special candelabra, brought to the ceremony by members of the community, marking the end of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light that began last Thursday.
Continue reading...Civilians make up 61% of Gaza deaths from airstrikes, Israeli study finds
Civilian proportion of deaths is higher than that in all world conflicts in 20th century, data suggests
The aerial bombing campaign by Israel in Gaza is the most indiscriminate in terms of civilian casualties in recent years, a study published by an Israeli newspaper has found.
The analysis in Haaretz came as Israeli forces fought to consolidate their control of northern Gaza on Saturday, bombing the Shejaiya district of Gaza City, while also conducting airstrikes on Rafah, a town on the southern border with Egypt where the Israeli army has told people in Gaza to take shelter.
This article was amended on 9 December 2023 to clarify that +972 Magazine is an Israeli-Palestinian publication.
Continue reading...UN says Gaza near ‘full-blown collapse’ as US vetoes ceasefire call
UN officials including secretary general describe humanitarian breakdown in territory as they plead for immediate ceasefire
The UN is at “breaking point” in Gaza, its most senior official has warned, as his colleagues described the “untenable” humanitarian catastrophe in the territory, with 700 people sharing a single toilet and people burning plastic to keep warm.
One official said UN agencies were “barely operational” and staff were bringing their children to work “so they know they are safe or can die together”.
Continue reading...US defies appeals to back UN resolution for urgent Gaza ceasefire
US vetoes resolution despite pleas from secretary general and Arab allies, saying ceasefire ‘would only plant the seeds of the next war’
The US has defied appeals from its Arab allies and the UN secretary general to back an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, telling the security council that to do so would merely plant the seeds of the next war.
The US vetoed a United Nations resolution calling for a ceasefire late on Friday, despite a dramatic warning from António Guterres that civil order was breaking down and the risk of a mass exodus into Egypt growing, with as yet unclear consequences for the rest of the region. The vote in the 15-member council was 13-1 with the UK abstaining.
Continue reading...Billionaires and free speech advocates wade into US college antisemitism fray
Leaders of three universities continue navigating calls to resign following ‘evasive’ answers in House hearing
Leaders of three prestigious US universities remained under pressure on Friday as a controversy about antisemitism on campus, inflamed by their appearance at a congressional hearing earlier in the week, showed little sign of abating, with free speech advocates and billionaire college donors wading into the fray.
Liz Magill, the president of the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), survived an emergency meeting of its board of trustees on Thursday amid backlash to her “disastrous” comments to the hearing investigating rising campus antisemitism since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war.
Continue reading...Almost 100 journalists killed and 400 imprisoned in 2023, says report
International Federation of Journalists says 68 killed covering Israel-Hamas war, more than in any other conflict in over 30 years
A leading organisation representing journalists worldwide has expressed deep concern at the number of media professionals killed around the globe doing their jobs in 2023, with more journalists killed during Israel’s war with Hamas than in any other conflict in more than 30 years.
In its annual count of media worker deaths, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said 94 journalists had been killed so far this year and almost 400 others had been imprisoned.
Continue reading...Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer killed in Gaza
Tributes pour in for one of the leaders of a young generation of writers in Gaza who chose to tell their stories in English
Tributes poured in for the Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer on Friday after friends said he was killed in a strike on Gaza.
Alareer was one of the leaders of a young generation of writers in Gaza who chose to write in English to tell their stories, with friends describing his defiance in the face of the Israeli army’s assault on the Gaza Strip.
Continue reading...Footage shows IDF parading scores of Palestinian men around in underwear
Israeli media claimed images show Hamas fighters but several civilians have been identified including a journalist
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said it is concerned by images of semi-naked Palestinian men being paraded by the Israeli military in Gaza, adding that all of those detained must be treated in keeping with international humanitarian law.
“We strongly emphasise the importance of treating all those detained with humanity and dignity, in accordance with international humanitarian law,” Jessica Moussan, a spokesperson for the ICRC, said in a statement.
Continue reading...