Category Archives: Israel-Gaza war

Deal allows police to march in parade – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

On the “broken promise” of changing the stage-three tax cuts (the latest Guardian Essential poll had Albanese falling in the trust stakes) the prime minister said:

We made not an easy decision. We made the right decision for all the right reasons. We know that families are under cost of living pressure.

The idea that we could sit back and ignore the clear recommendations that this was the best way that we could have an impact on providing that assistance to middle Australia without putting upward pressure on inflation – we couldn’t ignore that.

This is just a terrible incident that’s occurred here. The loss of the two young men and I feel for the grieving of the family, the friends. They obviously were full of life, because so many people interacted with them. It’s a really tough day for, as well, the queer community, and it’s been a very difficult time.

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Hamas and Israel pour cold water on Biden’s hopes of imminent ceasefire

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US president’s remarks that there could be truce by Monday are ‘premature’, says political head of Hamas in Gaza

Israeli and Hamas officials have downplayed hopes expressed by Joe Biden that a ceasefire in the war in Gaza is imminent, raising questions about whether a temporary truce can be implemented before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins in two weeks’ time.

Basem Naim, the head of Hamas’s political division in Gaza, said over WhatsApp on Tuesday that the Palestinian Islamist movement had not yet formally received a new proposal for a ceasefire since last week’s indirect talks in Paris mediated by the US, Egypt and Qatar.

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What we know so far about the draft Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal

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Agreements on fighting, hostage and prisoner releases and aid in Gaza are part of terms the two sides could sign up to

The US president, Joe Biden, said he hoped a deal for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza and hostage release could be reached by next Monday, as negotiators for Israel and Hamas try to pin down the terms of a draft agreement.

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Middle East crisis: Biden comments on ceasefire are ‘premature’, says Hamas – as it happened

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Official tells media still ‘big gaps that need to be bridged’ after US president said ‘my hope is by next Monday we’ll have a ceasefire’

Israel says it has struck multiple targets inside Lebanon. In a message posted to its official Telegram channel, the IDF reported:

This morning approximately 35 launches were identified crossing from Lebanon into the area of Mount Meron in northern Israel. There were no injuries or damage to the IDF Aerial Control Unit in the area.

In response, IDF fighter jets struck a military site and Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Hanniyeh, Jibchit, Baisariyeh, and Mansouri. IDF artillery also struck in the area of Yaroun in order to remove a threat.

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Israel is deliberately starving Palestinians, UN rights expert says

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Exclusive: UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri says denial of food is war crime and constitutes ‘a situation of genocide’

Israel is intentionally starving Palestinians and should be held accountable for war crimes – and genocide, according to the UN’s leading expert on the right to food.

Hunger and severe malnutrition are widespread in the Gaza Strip, where about 2.2 million Palestinians are facing severe shortages resulting from Israel destroying food supplies and severely restricting the flow of food, medicines and other humanitarian supplies. Aid trucks and Palestinians waiting for humanitarian relief have come under Israeli fire.

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Joe Biden hopeful of Gaza ceasefire by Monday as details of proposal emerge

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US president appears upbeat as Hamas reportedly mulls 40-day halt in fighting with Palestinian prisoners swapped for Israeli hostages

Joe Biden has said he believes a new, temporary ceasefire in Gaza is possible by next Monday, as Hamas was reportedly considering a draft agreement for a 40-day pause in fighting and the exchange of dozens of Israeli hostages for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, according to a Reuters source.

“My national security adviser tells me that we’re close. We’re close. We’re not done yet,” Biden told reporters during a visit to New York on Monday after taping an appearance on NBC’s Late Night with Seth Meyers. “My hope is by next Monday, we’ll have a ceasefire.”

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In Gaza, scouts’ community-building and survival skills are a new lifeline

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The Palestinian Scouts Association, once a recreational outlet, is deploying volunteers to help people displaced by war

Sahar Abu Zeid was perhaps an unlikely member of the Gaza City branch of the Palestinian Scout Association. She first got involved in 2017, aged 25, shortly after finishing an accounting degree, and quickly fell in love with the outdoor lifestyle and sense of community the organisation provided.

Before the new war between Hamas and Israel, scouting was one of the only affordable and accessible recreational outlets in the isolated Palestinian territory, she said. Now, the practical and teamwork skills Abu Zeid learned are being put to use in previously unimaginable circumstances.

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Middle East crisis: Israeli government blocking ‘lifesaving aid’, Human Rights Watch says; Palestinian Authority PM resigns – as it happened

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Human rights body says Israel not following ICJ order on Gaza aid provision; Mohammad Shtayyeh submits resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas

The UN rights chief has decried disinformation and other attacks that aim to “undermine the legitimacy” and work of the UN and other institutions, describing them as “profoundly destructive”.

Speaking at the opening of the UN human rights council’s main annual session, Volker Turk criticised widespread “disinformation that targets UN humanitarian organisations, UN peacekeepers and my office”.

The UN has become a lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and a scapegoat for policy failures.

This is profoundly destructive of the common good, and it callously betrays the many people whose lives rely on it.

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UN warns Rafah attack would be ‘nail in coffin’ of Gaza aid as deliveries halve

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Amount reaching starving territory dropped 50% in February despite severe shortages of basic necessities

The amount of aid reaching Gaza fell by half in February from the month before, the UN has said, as its secretary general, António Guterres, said an Israeli assault on Rafah would be “the nail in the coffin” of deliveries to the starving territory.

“February registered a 50% reduction of humanitarian aid entering Gaza compared to January,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement on X. “Aid was supposed to increase not decrease to address the huge needs of 2 million Palestinians in desperate living conditions.”

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SNP to push for another Commons vote on ceasefire in Gaza

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Move presents fresh challenge to speaker and Labour party after last week’s chaotic scenes in parliament

The Scottish National party will push for another vote on a Gaza ceasefire this week, creating a fresh challenge for the speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, and the Labour party after last Wednesday’s chaotic scenes in the Commons.

Hoyle faced calls to quit after his decision to break with precedent and allow Labour to table a vote during an SNP debate calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, which prompted a walkout by Conservative and Scottish Nationalist MPs.

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Michigan governor says not voting for Biden over Gaza war ‘supports second Trump term’

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Gretchen Whitmer responds to calls by some Democrats to vote ‘uncommitted’ in Michigan’s primary on Tuesday

Gretchen Whitmer, the Michigan governor, pushed back on calls to not vote for Joe Biden over his handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict, saying on Sunday that could help Trump get re-elected.

“It’s important not to lose sight of the fact that any vote that’s not cast for Joe Biden supports a second Trump term,” she said on Sunday during an interview on CNN’s State of the Union. “A second Trump term would be devastating. Not just on fundamental rights, not just on our democracy here at home, but also when it comes to foreign policy. This was a man who promoted a Muslim ban.”

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Israel should have a voice at Eurovision, says president amid row over lyrics

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Isaac Herzog said ‘haters try to drive us off every stage’ as lyrics to October Rain scrutinised by organisers

Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, wants to ensure the country competes in the Eurovision song contest after the event’s organisers said they were examining whether the lyrics sung by the Israeli contestant were too political.

“I think it’s important for Israel to appear in Eurovision, and this is also a statement because there are haters who try to drive us off every stage,” Herzog said on Sunday, the Times of Israel reported. “Being smart is not just being right,” he added.

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UN’s Palestinian aid agency ‘at breaking point’ after $450m budget shortfall

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UNRWA chief says humanitarian work in Gaza compromised after donors froze funds over alleged Hamas links

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has been forced to “stretch every dollar” and juggle its finances in order to continue vital work in Gaza after 18 donor countries suspended funding over allegations of links to Hamas.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is facing a shortfall of $450m from a budget of $880m as it confronts the biggest humanitarian crisis seen in the organisation’s 75-year history.

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US and UK launch missile strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen

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Joint statement says 18 sites across eight locations were targeted, including missile storage facilities

The US and UK carried out strikes against 18 Houthi targets including underground weapons and missile storage facilities in Yemen on Saturday in the latest round of military action against the Iran-linked group that continues to attack shipping in the region.

The strikes were against Houthi targets across eight locations and also included air defence systems, radars, and a helicopter, officials said.

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London’s Tower Bridge closed due to pro-Palestine demonstration

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Historic landmark closed for about an hour as activists call for ceasefire to the conflict in Gaza

Police were forced to close Tower Bridge to vehicles and pedestrians following a protest by pro-Palestine demonstrators.

Some activists were seen lighting flares and waving Palestinian flags and calling for a ceasefire to the ongoing violence in Gaza, according to footage on social media. The landmark was closed by City of London police at about 5.30pm on Saturday before being reopened approximately an hour later.

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Ceasefire talks raise Gaza hopes but 1.5m trapped in Rafah fear the worst

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Closed-door negotiations in Paris and UN efforts in New York yield conflicting reports of progress, but city of Rafah remains in Israel’s firing line

A closed-door meeting of spy chiefs, military officials and diplomats has briefly renewed hopes of a potential ceasefire deal amid fierce debates at the United Nations, but observers have warned that time is running out to make progress and prevent a looming Israeli offensive on Gaza’s southernmost city.

The secretive talks at an unknown location in Paris involved David Barnea, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, conducting separate meetings with Egyptian spy chief Abbas Kamel, head of the CIA William Burns and Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

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New hopes of Gaza ceasefire as Israeli negotiators head to Paris

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Pressure mounts on Israel and Hamas to make a deal before threatened Rafah offensive

An Israeli negotiating team arrived in Paris on Friday for talks about a potential ceasefire in Gaza in the latest sign of tentative progress towards an agreement that could end the five-month-old war.

The Israeli delegation, which includes the heads of its internal and external intelligence services, will meet the director of the CIA, Qatar’s prime minister and Egypt’s most senior intelligence official for talks over the weekend in what appears to be the most serious push for weeks to halt the fighting.

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Middle East crisis: Netanyahu presents first official post-Gaza war plan; MSF says ‘there is no health system left in Gaza’ – as it happened

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Israel wants security control over all land west of Jordan, including occupied West Bank and Gaza; MSF says idea of humanitarian response in Gaza ‘an illusion’. This live blog is closed

The paramedics arm of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group says two of its members were killed in an Israeli strike on a southern border village early on Friday, reports AP.

The Islamic Health Society identified the two as Hussein Khalil and Mohammed Ismail, saying they were killed when the group’s office in the village of Blida was directly hit, a day after an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Rumman killed two members of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, including a local official who was identified as Hassan Saleh.

Hezbollah later said it retaliated the attack on Blida by launching two explosive drones at an Israeli army post in the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, claiming it scored direct hits.

Since the Israel-Hamas war began on 7 October, the Lebanon-Israel border has been witnessing daily exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli troops. Since then, nearly 200 Hezbollah fighters and at least 40 civilians have been killed, say AP.

Israel plans to approve the construction of more than 3,300 new homes in settlements in the occupied West Bank, a senior cabinet minister from the far-right wing of the government announced, reports AP.

Approval of new construction is bound to elicit condemnation from the US at a time when the relationship between the allies is fraught because of disagreements over the course of Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

According to AP, finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a statement late on Thursday that the new construction is meant as a response to a fatal Palestinian shooting attack near Jerusalem earlier in the day. He said prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant participated in the discussion leading to the decision.

The homes are to be built in the settlements of Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar, Smotrich said.

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Israel wants administrators ‘without Hamas or PA links’ to run Gaza

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Israeli officials say they plan to trial scheme when ‘the right people’ come forward

Israeli officials have said they want to use local administrators without links to either Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to run Gaza, and will set up small scale trials of the scheme as soon as “the right people step up to the plate”.

The controversial plan, which would see Israel retaining security control throughout Gaza, comes amid a deepening breakdown in public order in the devastated territory as convoys of aid are repeatedly looted and local communities form self-defence groups, some armed, to protect against thieves or help find food.

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Claims of Israeli sexual assault of Palestinian women are credible, UN panel says

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Experts report evidence of rape, sexual humiliation and threats of rape against girls and women

UN experts say they have seen “credible allegations” that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assaults, including rape, while in Israeli detention, and are calling for a full investigation.

The panel of experts said there was evidence of a least two cases of rape, alongside other cases of sexual humiliation and threats of rape. Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, said the true extent of sexual violence could be significantly higher.

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