Category Archives: Israel

Israeli military kills at least 41 people as it continues to order evacuation of Gaza City

Posted on by

Many of 1 million residents say they will not leave as they do not believe al-Mawasi humanitarian zone is safe

The Israeli military has killed at least 41 people in Gaza, including 12 aid seekers, over the last 24 hours as it continued to order the population of Gaza City to evacuate before its planned offensive.

The evacuation orders were accompanied by intensified Israeli bombing of the city, the Israeli military interspersing orders with announcements of high-rise towers they had bombed.

Continue reading...

Starmer says he has confidence in Peter Mandelson amid calls to sack him over Epstein ties – UK politics live

Posted on by

PM was grilled by Kemi Badenoch on suitability of Mandelson for job as US ambassador

Helena Horton is a Guardian environment reporter.

Emma Reynolds, the new environment secretary, had a difficult job this morning: meeting a group of farmers after Labour caused fury in the rural community by introducing a new inheritance tax.

The Treasury reserve, designed to be used for “genuinely unforeseen, unaffordable and unavoidable pressures” has recently been used to fund higher public sector pay and compensation payouts.

In a letter to ministers, the chancellor said Treasury would only consider providing reserve funds to departments that have already maximised their savings …

Continue reading...

Ursula von der Leyen calls for suspension of EU trade with Israel

Posted on by

Commission president cites illegal West Bank settlement plans, Gaza and attempts to ‘undermine two-state solution’

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for a suspension of trade with Israel, as she spoke of Europe’s “painful” inability to respond to the war on Gaza and ensuing humanitarian disaster.

In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a “clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution”.

Continue reading...

Starmer’s meeting with Israeli president could set relations back further

Posted on by

Two leaders have competing visions for Israel’s security and Palestinian self-rule with little chance of finding common ground

A meeting in London between Keir Starmer and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, could not come at a more difficult time for either leader, and far from easing British-Israeli relations, the encounter risks setting them back yet further.

Once the meeting on Wednesday was in the diary, there was a faint hope within Downing Street that the two men would at least listen to each other about their competing visions for Israel’s future, including a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict, a vision Herzog once shared.

Continue reading...

Gaza aid flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg reports second drone attack in 24 hours

Posted on by

Global Sumud Flotilla says no passengers or crew harmed by alleged incendiary device dropped on boat in Tunisian port

A flotilla seeking to break Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza has said it was attacked by a drone for the second time in less than 24 hours.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which is carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including Greta Thunberg, said in a statement early on Wednesday that it had been attacked by another drone, which dropped an incendiary device on one of its boats, the Alma, as it was moored in the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. None of the passengers or crew were harmed and no structural damage was caused, it said

Continue reading...

Trump appears sidelined as the US caught unawares by Israel’s unprecedented strikes on Qatar

Posted on by

The White House is caught between supporting Israel’s war against Hamas and patching up relations with a key US ally in the region

In the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas negotiators in the heart of Qatar’s capital Doha, the White House appeared sidelined from halting a conflict that Donald Trump has claimed only he could mediate.

As details of the diplomatic flurry before Tuesday’s extraordinary strike were revealed, it was claimed that the White House had little say in how Israel opened its latest front in its war against Hamas – this one on a US ally hosting negotiations days after Trump had claimed he was close to reaching a deal.

Continue reading...

Israeli-Russian graduate student freed after 903 days in Hezbollah captivity

Posted on by

Elizabeth Tsurkov, who entered Iraq to do research for Princeton, had gone missing in Iraq in early 2023

Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released after being kidnapped by Kata’ib Hezbollah and spending more than two years in captivity, Donald Trump said in a post on social media.

“I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” the US president wrote in a TruthSocial post on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Starmer condemns Israel’s airstrike on Qatar as No 10 denies prior knowledge of attack

Posted on by

‘Immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages and a huge surge in aid into Gaza’ only route to peace, says PM

Keir Starmer has condemned Israel’s strike on Qatar before a meeting with the Israeli president in London on Wednesday.

The UK prime minister said the military strike, which targeted Hamas leaders stationed in Doha, was a violation of Qatar’s sovereignty and risked “further escalation across the region”.

Continue reading...

Von der Leyen under growing pressure to take tougher line with Israel

Posted on by

EU Commission president urged to ‘show leadership’ and preserve bloc’s credibility amid catastrophe in Gaza

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is under growing pressure from MEPs to “show leadership” and preserve the EU’s political credibility by taking a tougher approach to Israel’s government over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Von der Leyen is expected to refer to the EU’s role on the world stage in her annual “state of the union” speech to the European parliament on Wednesday, where she will set out her agenda for the year ahead.

Continue reading...

Israel’s expanded assault on Gaza City will endanger lives of ‘countless civilians’, charity warns – Middle East crisis live

Posted on by

Warning from ActionAid comes after Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli army told residents of Gaza City to leave

Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor

Fifty-one Israeli arms makers and the US defence giant behind the F-35 fighters used to bomb Gaza are among the 1,600 exhibitors at the biennial DSEI trade show that begins in London’s Docklands on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Flotilla boat carrying aid to Gaza struck by flaming object, video shows

Posted on by

Global Sumud Flotilla says one of its vessels was hit by drone at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia, sustaining fire damage

A flotilla carrying aid for Gaza and pro-Palestinian activists has published a video showing one of its boats being struck by a flaming object at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia.

The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said the boat had been hit by a drone and that it sustained fire damage to its main deck and below-deck storage, though all six passengers and crew were safe.

Continue reading...

US visa refusal for Palestinian delegation prompts calls to move UN meeting to Geneva

Posted on by

General assembly session about two-state solution for Palestine and Israel due to start in New York on Tuesday

The US’s refusal to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation to the UN general assembly has led to calls for a one-day conference on a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel to be moved from the UN’s headquarters in New York to its other main site in Geneva.

Donald Trump’s White House has already refused to grant a visa to the Palestinian Authority (PA) president, Mahmoud Abbas, and 80 other Palestinian officials for the general assembly session, which begins on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Palestinian gunmen kill six people at Jerusalem bus stop

Posted on by

At least 12 others injured in attack at Ramot intersection during morning rush hour

Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a crowded bus stop in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday, killing six people and injuring 12 others before being shot dead by an off-duty soldier and a civilian at the scene.

The victims included a 79-year-old former cardiologist, a 43-year-old rabbi and a 25-year-old who had recently emigrated from Spain. Twenty-six others suffered injuries, including six who were left in a serious condition with gunshot wounds.

Continue reading...

Actors and directors pledge not to work with Israeli film groups ‘implicated in genocide’

Posted on by

Exclusive: Thousands of film workers join new boycott initiative criticized by Israeli producers’ group as ‘misguided’

Thousands of actors, directors and other film industry professionals have signed a new pledge vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”.

“As film-makers, actors, film industry workers, and institutions, we recognise the power of cinema to shape perceptions” the pledge reads. “In this urgent moment of crisis, where many of our governments are enabling the carnage in Gaza, we must do everything we can to address complicity in that unrelenting horror.”

Continue reading...

Protests expected as 51 Israeli arms makers among exhibitors at London trade fair

Posted on by

Campaign Against Arms Trade says UK government has hit ‘peak complicity in genocide’ in allowing the firms to exhibit

Fifty-one Israeli arms makers and the US defence giant behind the F-35 fighters used to bomb Gaza are among the 1,600 exhibitors at the biennial DSEI trade show that begins in London’s Docklands on Tuesday.

Their presence will be the focus for hundreds planning to demonstrate outside the four-day arms fair, at which the defence secretary, John Healey, is expected to speak alongside senior British military officials.

Continue reading...

Trump issues ‘last warning’ to Hamas to accept Gaza ceasefire deal

Posted on by

President says ‘the Israelis have accepted my terms’ and urges release of hostages to secure peace agreement

Donald Trump on Sunday issued what he called his “last warning” to Hamas, urging the Palestinian militant group to accept a deal to release hostages from Gaza.

“The Israelis have accepted my Terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning, there will not be another one!”

Continue reading...

Israel’s top court says government is not giving Palestinian prisoners enough food

Posted on by

Justices rule state is legally obliged to ensure ‘basic level of existence’ and orders authorities to improve nutrition

Israel’s supreme court has ruled that the government has failed to provide Palestinian security prisoners with adequate food for basic subsistence and ordered authorities to improve their nutrition.

Sunday’s decision was a rare case in which the country’s highest court ruled against the government’s conduct during the nearly two-year war.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer has ‘legal duty to stop Gaza genocide’, says Greta Thunberg

Posted on by

Exclusive: Activist spoke while onboard aid flotilla aiming to deliver food, baby formula and medical supplies to territory

Keir Starmer must obey his “legal duty to act to prevent a genocide”, Greta Thunberg has told the Guardian while travelling onboard an aid flotilla heading for Gaza.

The Swedish activist said there was a “huge absence of those whose legal responsibility it is to step up” under international law, and called out the UK prime minister before a potential meeting this week with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.

Continue reading...

More than 7,000 under-fives in Gaza put in malnutrition recovery in two-week period

Posted on by

Unicef expects August malnutrition cases to top 15,000, as famine declared in Gaza City spreads south

More than 7,000 children under the age of five were put on recovery programmes for acute malnutrition at clinics run by Unicef in Gaza in just two weeks last month, figures reveal.

The overall total for August is being compiled by Unicef but is expected to exceed 15,000 new patients, more than seven times the total in February.

Continue reading...

More than 7,000 under-fives in Gaza put in malnutrition recovery in two-week period

Posted on by

Unicef expects August malnutrition cases to top 15,000, as famine declared in Gaza City spreads south

More than 7,000 children under the age of five were put on recovery programmes for acute malnutrition at clinics run by Unicef in Gaza in just two weeks last month, figures reveal.

The overall total for August is being compiled by Unicef but is expected to exceed 15,000 new patients, more than seven times the total in February.

Continue reading...