Category Archives: Israel

Blinken urges Israel to avoid civilian deaths and wants safe zones in Gaza

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Top US diplomat tours Arab states in effort to avoid wider war over expected Israeli invasion of Gaza Strip

The US’s most senior diplomat has urged Israel to take every possible precaution to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza as he called for the establishment in the territory of safe zones where shelter, food, water and medical supplies can be provided.

“We have urged the Israelis to use every possible precaution to avoid harm to civilians,” the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said. “We recognise many Palestinian families in Gaza are suffering through no fault of their own and that Palestinian civilians have lost their lives.”

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Insurance issues delay UK attempts to bring citizens home from Israel

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British-organised repatriation flights cancelled but other countries’ flights are able to land in UK

British citizens trying to escape the war zone in Israel are having their repatriation flights repeatedly cancelled by the British government, while emergency flights arranged by US and Australian authorities are landing in the UK.

The government has failed in its attempts to organise repatriation flights for British nationals to return home from Israel because of problems obtaining insurance, an aviation source told the PA news agency.

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Australia news live: Minns says NSW police response to pro-Palestine rally will be ‘reasonable and proportionate’; voice referendum latest updates

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Follow today’s news live, including the latest updates on the voice referendum

A strong no vote could hold back reforms in Indigenous affairs, Wyatt says

Ken Wyatt said he doesn’t think the government has made a mistake deciding against legislating the voice if the referendum is defeated, but he fears what a strong no vote will mean for the future of Indigenous affairs:

We’ve got to respect what Australians are saying if there is an overwhelming no majority …

The fear I have now is with a strong no, whether the government will become reticent to be adventurous on doing significant reforms in the future in the Aboriginal affairs portfolio, and on programs and policies that could reshape the landscape of Aboriginal affairs and the way in which Aboriginal people access the plethora of services that we all take for granted across this nation as our inherent right.

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UN says tens of thousands have fled south in Gaza after Israel’s evacuation order – as it happened

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More than 400,000 in Gaza were already internally displaced before Israel’s evacuation order, UN humanitarian office says

“This is chaos, no one understands what to do,” said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the UN Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City told an Associated Press reporter while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her.

She said all the UN staff in Gaza City and northern Gaza had been told to evacuate south to Rafah.

The IDF calls for the evacuation of all civilians from Gaza city, from their homes, southwards, for their own safety and protection, and to move to the area south of wadi Gaza, the river Gaza, as shown on the map.

The Hamas terrorist organisation waged a war against the state of Israel, and Gaza City is an area where military operations are taking place. This evacuation is for your own safety. You will be able to return to Gaza city only when another announcement permitting it is made. Do not approach the area of the security fence of Israel. Hamas terrorists are hiding in Gaza city, inside tunnels, underneath houses and inside buildings populated with innocent civilians who are using you as human shields.

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Gaza residents told to move south as Israel prepares for expected ground assault

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UN says Israeli military has given 1.1 million Gaza residents 24 hours to move amid warnings it could cause ‘devastating humanitarian consequences’

Israel’s military has delivered sweeping evacuation orders for almost half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people ahead of an expected ground offensive aiming to eradicate the Hamas militant group after its unprecedented assault on Israel, UN officials said.

The order sent panic through civilians and aid workers already struggling under Israeli airstrikes and a blockade.

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Australian government to charter at least two flights for citizens affected by Israel-Hamas war

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Services are in addition to Qantas flights and come amid ‘highly challenging and rapidly changing’ situation

Australia is arranging at least two charter flights to help citizens to flee Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, on top of the two Qantas services already announced.

The Australian government described the situation in the region as “highly challenging and rapidly changing” but said on Friday there had been “no evacuation” of the Australian embassy in Tel Aviv.

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‘We came to thank him and say goodbye’: mourners bury young Briton in quiet, jittery Jerusalem

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As Nathanel Young, 20, was buried, the streets of the divided city remained uneasily empty with both sides fearing reprisals

On a hillside in Jerusalem, hundreds of people stood in near silence at the funeral of a “lone soldier”. Speaking only in whispers or exchanging glances they crammed on to the stone walls that overlooked the line of white gravestones in Israel’s national cemetery on Mount Herzl.

A fearful quiet had descended on the city, with the line of cars snaking up the hillside and the crowds of people finding their way to the cemetery marking the only crowds in a place normally teeming with life.

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US to send more arms to Israel before expected Gaza invasion

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Ground forces are gathering near the border, as UN says that Gaza is dangerously close to running out of food and water

The US pledged to send more arms to Israel on Thursday ahead of an expected ground assault in Gaza against Hamas, as the UN warned food and water supplies were running dangerously low in the blockaded enclave.

As America’s top diplomat flew into Israel following Saturday’s surprise cross-border assault by Hamas, the UK announced it would send two navy ships and would begin surveillance flights in its own show of support.

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UK to send navy ships and spy planes to support Israel

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British PM says aim is to support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation

Britain will send surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and about 100 Royal Marines to the eastern Mediterranean from Friday to support Israel and help prevent any sudden escalation of fighting in the Middle East.

Patrol flights of Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes will begin on Friday, Downing St announced, tasked partly with monitoring any efforts to transfer of weapons from countries such as Iran or Russia to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

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Two Jewish schools in London to close over security fears

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Ministers announce £3m extra funding for charity that helps protect Jewish community sites

Two Jewish schools in north-west London are set to close temporarily because of safety fears after the crisis in Israel and Gaza, as ministers announced £3m for a charity that helps protect Jewish community sites.

The extra support for the Community Security Trust (CST) was announced after a roundtable discussion at Downing Street involving ministers, police and the charity, which recorded a quadrupling of antisemitic incidents in the UK since Hamas’s attack on Israel.

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Palestinian death toll passes 1,500 – as it happened

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In previous encounters, says Nebal Farsakh, there would always be some time without airstrikes.

“But now, there is not a single minute. That’s why the casualties keep going up and up,” says Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent.

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European leaders pledge crackdown on antisemitism as incidents rise

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Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions

Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.

The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.

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Biden White House condemns Trump’s ‘dangerous’ Israel-Hamas remarks

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2024 Republican frontrunner called Hezbollah militant group ‘very smart’, prompting a stern reaction from the White House

Joe Biden and Donald Trump continued to clash over the Israel-Hamas war on Thursday as a White House spokesman rebuked the former US president for what he called “dangerous and unhinged” comments about the conflict.

Hamas, an Iran-backed militant group based in Gaza, launched attacks on Israel on Saturday, killing more than 1,000 people and taking more than 100 hostage. Israeli air strikes have subsequently killed more than 1,000 people and significantly worsened the humanitarian situation in Gaza. A ground invasion is thought likely.

Reuters contributed reporting

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FA criticised by Jewish groups over response to Hamas attacks

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  • Silence for all Israel-Palestine victims and no lit Wembley arch
  • Campaign Against Antisemitism says plan ‘utterly shameful’

Leading Jewish groups have hit out at English football’s response to the Hamas attacks in Israel and criticised the Football Association’s refusal to light up the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag.

With the FA believed to be nervous over being seen to favour one of Israel and Palestine, it has decided to hold a period of silence for all victims of the conflict before England host Australia in a friendly on Friday night. On a day when the Premier League broke its silence on the situation, it was announced that the England and Australia players would wear black armbands and that supporters would be prevented from bringing Israeli and Palestinian kits and flags into Wembley.

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Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf tells of war’s impact on in-laws in Gaza

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Yousaf renews calls for UK government to urge ceasefire as he describes his family’s fears for trapped relatives

His mother-in-law in besieged Gaza is running out of drinking water. His brother-in-law, a doctor, is dealing with the horror of trying to identify body parts in a hospital nearby. And his four-year-old daughter, at home in Scotland, can only understand that “granny is afraid of the thunder”.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has described in brutal detail the impact on trapped family members of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response to the shock attacks by Hamas at the weekend.

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What are the rules of war – and how do they apply to the Israel-Gaza conflict?

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International humanitarian law dictates the rules combatants should follow – with a central tenet that ‘civilians should not be targeted’

Amid the horror of the attacks by Hamas on Israel and the response by the Israeli military in Gaza, there have been calls for both sides to abide by international law and accusations of breaches.

So what is the framework of international laws that is supposed to govern war or armed conflicts?

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Hamas attacks on Israel had echoes of Nazi massacres, says Antony Blinken

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At press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, US secretary of state says America will always be by Israel’s side

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has said the attacks by Hamas on Israel on Saturday had “harrowing echoes” of Nazi massacres, as he stood alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Jerusalem in an act of public solidarity.

Blinken, who is Jewish, vowed that the US would stand for ever alongside Israel, and said he would use his tour of the region to urge all parties, especially Hezbollah, not to broaden the conflict or open a second front.

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Pressure mounts for Turkey and Hungary to ratify Swedish Nato bid – as it happened

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At Nato meeting of foreign ministers, ongoing saga of Sweden’s bid to join organisation in spotlight again

One issue defence ministers will discuss today is the implementation of the alliance’s new military plans – and how equipment and troops will be placed on Nato’s sensitive eastern flank.

The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, assured other Nato defence ministers that it was possible to give strong support to both Israel and Ukraine, a US official and a European diplomat told the Guardian.

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Dysfunction in Washington leaves Middle East without key US diplomats

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Having no US ambassador to Israel in place and Republicans holding up military promotions is a threat to democracy, experts say

Political turmoil in Washington has left the US without key diplomats across the Middle East and raised concerns that years of congressional dysfunction are taking their toll on US leadership.

A devastating weekend attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen shook the region and came at a moment when there is no US ambassador in place in Israel, Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon or Oman.

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