Category Archives: Israel

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Israel spokesperson accuses BBC’s Mishal Husain of pro-Palestinian bias

Posted on by

Broadcaster defends Radio 4 presenter’s ‘legitimate’ questions to David Mencer, who claimed she was parroting ‘terrorist organisations’

The BBC has defended Mishal Husain, a presenter on its Radio 4 Today programme, after she was accused by an Israeli government spokesperson live on air of “blindly repeating what terrorist organisations … feed you”.

In a tetchy interview on Monday’s programme, David Mencer, said Husain warranted the “pro-Palestinian reporter of the year award”.

Continue reading...

Israel prepares for likely retaliatory attack by Iran as tensions mount

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Thousands flee Khan Younis after Israel warns of new offensive

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister’s comments suggesting starvation in Gaza ‘might be justified’

Posted on by

Australian foreign minister joins UK, Germany and France in condemning comments made by Bezalel Smotrich and repeats calls for ceasefire

Deliberately starving civilians is a war crime, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has said, joining international condemnation of comments made by the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

On Wednesday, Smotrich suggested that deliberately starving people in Gaza might be “justified and moral”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

This blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

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.”

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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”.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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”.

Continue reading...

Uncommitted voters respond to Harris-Walz ticket with hope and reservations

Posted on by

Harris expresses openness to discussing Israel-Gaza stance with movement leaders, who are torn over Walz as VP pick

Leaders of the “uncommitted” campaign spoke with Kamala Harris and her newly announced running mate, the Minnesota governor, Tim Walz, before a rally in Detroit on Wednesday to discuss their calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and an arms embargo on Israel.

Harris “shared her sympathies and expressed an openness to a meeting with the Uncommitted leaders to discuss an arms embargo”, the organization said in a statement.

Continue reading...

US ambassador to skip Nagasaki bomb commemoration over Israeli exclusion

Posted on by

City’s mayor says Israel not invited because of risk of protests at event honouring victims of 1945 nuclear blast

The US ambassador to Japan will skip this year’s memorial service for the nuclear attack on Nagasaki because Israel has not been invited, the embassy has said.

Rahm Emanuel would not attend the event on Friday because it had been “politicised” by Nagasaki’s decision not to invite Israel, the embassy said. Instead, he would honour the victims of the Nagasaki bombing at a ceremony at a Buddhist temple in Tokyo and a lower-ranked US official would attend the Nagasaki event, it said.

Continue reading...

Israel minister condemned for saying starvation of millions in Gaza might be ‘justified and moral’

Posted on by

EU, UK and France urge Israel’s government to distance itself from comments by its finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich

The EU, France and UK have condemned a senior Israeli minister for suggesting it might be “justified and moral” to starve people in Gaza.

The comments from Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, in which he said “no one in the world will allow us to starve two million people, even though it might be justified and moral in order to free the hostages”, sparked international outrage.

Continue reading...

Cori Bush warns pro-Israel lobby ‘to be afraid’ after primary loss

Posted on by

Member of progressive ‘Squad’ says her loss has freed her to openly challenge Aipac

Representative Cori Bush has warned the pro-Israel lobby “to be afraid” after it poured millions of dollars into defeating the prominent member of the “Squad” of progressive Democrats in Tuesday’s primary election in St Louis.

Bush said her loss to St Louis county prosecutor Wesley Bell after the hardline American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) targeted her for opposition to Israel’s attack on Gaza had freed her to openly challenge the powerful pressure group, which has vowed to spend $100m to influence US elections this year in favour of Israel.

Continue reading...

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

Posted on by

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.

Continue reading...

Cori Bush loses primary after pro-Israel groups spend millions to oust ‘Squad’ member

Posted on by

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri’s first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote

A prominent member of the progressive “Squad” in Congress, Cori Bush, has lost her Democratic primary in St Louis after pro-Israel pressure groups spent millions of dollars to unseat her over criticisms of Israel’s war on Gaza.

St Louis prosecutor Wesley Bell defeated Missouri’s first Black female member of Congress with about 51% of the vote. Bush took about 46%.

Continue reading...